Mediacom ends battle with West Des Moines, Iowa, over Google Fiber deal

Mediacom struck a settlement agreement with the city of West Des Moines (IA) to end a more than year-long scuffle over what the operator claimed was an illegal deal between the municipality and Google Fiber. The exact terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the deal will allow the municipality to move ahead with the construction of a $50 million city-wide conduit network. Mediacom’s Senior Vice President of government and public relations Thomas Larsen said it will allow the operator to tap into that conduit infrastructure “where we need it” and overlash aerial assets in other spots to accelerate its 10G network upgrade there. Mediacom’s dispute with the city dates back to 2020 when city officials struck a deal to bring Google Fiber on as the first tenant on the aforementioned conduit network. That arrangement was announced in July that year. Mediacom filed a lawsuit against the city the following December, claiming the deal with Google Fiber was illegal. It asked a district court to order the city to put the conduit project on hold. A trial was scheduled to begin in April of 2022. In May 2021, Mediacom took the matter to the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to review the arrangement between the city and Google Fiber. The settlement deal must still be approved by a judge, but if it is accepted Larsen confirmed it will resolve the lawsuit and Mediacom will withdraw its FCC petition.