The city council in Culver City is preparing to consider a city-sponsored proposal to create an ultra-high-speed Internet network in the hopes it will lure tech companies to its resident-friendly streets.
The Culver City City Council plans to review a $3 million initiative in the next couple of months that would install fiber optic cables throughout buildings located within five business districts, including Hayden Industrial Tract where Beats Electronics is based. It’s a move that already has garnered support from big names including L.A. billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong.
“We wanted to be entrepreneurial, ensure that we maintain a competitive edge and that Culver City is strong in the marketplace,” said City Manager John Nachbar, who began researching the project with Chief Information Officer Michele Williams in 2012.
Fiber optic lines are hair-thin cables that can transmit telephone, Internet and cable TV signals over long distances at incredibly high speeds. They’re necessary for startups and tech companies that process huge amounts of data.
Santa Monica already has its own city-sponsored broadband initiative called City Net that involves fiber optic infrastructure built into various buildings throughout the city. Burbank offers the same kind of network to its businesses through its bandwidth service, One Burbank.
More than 70 Santa Monica businesses are currently hooked up through City Net, which began its fiber offerings in 2006. The network was profitable and contributing to the Santa Monica’s general fund by its second year, said Gary Carter, City Net’s broadband program administrator.
City Net was a win for local businesses, even though they had to pay for the installation, because they could get plugged into fiber at a lower rate.
“The affordability of the service is the incentive,” Carter said. “Even factoring in construction costs, businesses usually get their return in three to six months.”
Not only could fiber attract new and existing companies to Culver City, it would let the city connect with neighbors that have similar fiber networks so they can coordinate on projects that require ultra-speed network connections. That’s just another benefit Culver City Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells sees in the proposal, which she said has generally been received positively by City Council’s members.
“You just want to make sure you’re doing it right so it doesn’t end up like the LAUSD iPad rollout,” she said laughing. “Do it, but do it right.”
Staff reporter Melissah Yang can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @MelissahYang for the latest in L.A. tech news.
