Google Fiber work in KCK is delayed by dispute over how its wires are hung

When Google announced last spring that Kansas City (KS) had landed the tech company’s much-pursued super-speed Internet project, the company gushed about the local utility poles. They were flush with space nicely suited for hanging Google’s cables. What’s more, the city and county governments are one, and that same Unified Government of Wyandotte County owns the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities and its utility poles. That figured to make negotiations over installing Google’s fiber easier. Now it turns out that differences over where and how to hang wires on those poles, and what fees or installation costs may be required, have created a troublesome bump in plans to launch the project at “Google speed.” The issue was dealt with in just 60 words in Google’s original agreement, but nine-plus months later engineers and lawyers are still trying to settle on common ground.