Seattle Leads the Way to Strategic Bandwidth Advantage for America

[Commentary] When Google began deploying its gigabit-to-the-home, fiber network in Kansas City, many techies watched with envy. The lure of Midwestern kindness, affordable rent and cheap food, combined with world-leading bandwidth at prices equal to far slower options elsewhere has proven so enticing that some have even moved there. But they don’t have to move to the Midwest just yet; they can spur their hometown to action.

Seattle just announced a plan to bring gigabit service to a dozen of its neighborhoods. Once an agreement is signed, the City, the University of Washington and Gigabit Squared–a digital economic development company—plan to build out wireless and wired connectivity to over 100,000 Seattle residents in the span of 24 months. Seattle’s announcement is significant for its size, but more importantly because it points to a path, with proper strategy and planning, that any community can follow to an upgrade. This project shows how smart use of community assets like rights of way and dark fiber can improve the conditions for investment in next generation networks. Under Mayor McGinn’s leadership, Seattle added and made available additional conduit underground as part of its planned revitalization of the historic Pioneer Square and approved a policy to lease unused capacity from its existing 500 miles of fiber so providers could improve broadband access and services throughout the city. This forward-leaning approach to digital infrastructure has paid off: in a recent State by State Broadband Study, Washington State ranked first out of all 50 U.S. states on indicators of broadband adoption, network quality and economic structure. Not only has the infrastructure improved, but, as we found in our study, states actively investing in and utilizing broadband networks are “seeing stronger economic growth, better connected communities and enhanced quality of life.” While Washington benefits from a healthy tech economy, great local leadership such as Seattle has with its Mayor and the University of Washington has with its President has maximized the region’s assets.