Welcome to the Seattle Broadband Initiative Web site

“A state of the art technology infrastructure is vital to taking Seattle into the future. We are looking for a partner who has the vision and ability to join us in this exciting endeavor.”
- Mayor Greg Nickels

LATEST NEWS

Watch a discussion of the Broadband Initiative from the March 18, 2009, Energy & Technology Committee meeting.

Agenda Items: Chair's Report, Public Comment, Broadband Initiative Update, Seattle City Light Financial Quarterly Report.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has directed City departments to move forward and take the next steps to making a competitive fiber broadband network in Seattle a reality. After learning from staff about the information gathered during the RFI process, the Mayor has instructed the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) to publish a Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit specific proposals from private parties to leverage City assets and resources for the purposes of constructing a fiber broadband network in Seattle. We expect the RFP to be published in the fall of 2008. Mayor Nickels has also instructed Seattle City Light to explore what role the utility can take to increase the chances for success in bringing a competitive fiber broadband network to our city.

Survey Report - Acrobat PDF

Financial Feasibility Report - Acrobat PDF

The City concluded its discussions with 10 of the RFI respondents in October 2006. We are currently in the process of synthesizing the large amount of information we gathered during this process and conducting additional research. We expect to complete a set of recommendations and next steps in this process by February or March 2007. This information will be presented to the Mayor and City Council for further consideration.

In 2004, Mayor Greg Nickels and the City Council established a citizen’s Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation to explore the feasibility of using the City’s broadband assets in a telecommunications network available to the public. The Task Force concluded that the Seattle market lacks the competitive forces that will lead to a state of the art broadband network, and that fiber optic cable to the premises is the only technology available today to meet Seattle’s long-term needs.
View the Task Force report - Acrobat PDF

On May 22, 2006, the City of Seattle issued a Request for Interest seeking private partners to join the City in creating a competitive fiber to the premises (FTTP) broadband network serving the City, its citizens, businesses and institutions. Such a network would offer very high bi-directional bandwidth, deliver integrated voice, video and data services and would eventually serve the entire city.