Following in the footsteps of a handful of fortunate cities including Kansas City and Chicago, Seattle will soon be getting its own city-sponsored gigabit fiber-optic Internet network.
The city will partner with the private firm Gigabit Squared to bring the network to approximately 50,000 homes spread across 12 Seattle neighborhoods. Previously, Gigabit Squared teamed with the the municipality in Chicago to outline that city's fiber plans, while Google famously set up shop in Kansas City.
Gigabit Internet connections are up to 100 times faster than traditional broadband networks. In the cities that have them so far, local government has partnered directly with a private firm to build out and run the fiber network rather than following a traditional ISP model.
