Publication Date: Friday, January 20, 2006
City will seek telecom partners
City will seek telecom partners
(January 20, 2006) Wireless probably not part of the program
by Bill D'Agostino
The City of Palo Alto will seek private partners interested in building and operating an "ultra-high speed bandwidth" telecommunications system, the City Council voted Tuesday.
Such a system would preferably be city-owned and provide community-wide Internet access with cable and telephone services, according to a proposal floated by Vice Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto and Councilman Bern Beecham.
The council voted 5-1 in favor of seeking proposals Tuesday night. The eventual project is not likely to be a wireless system, despite the technology's increasing popularity with local governments nationwide.
Councilwoman LaDoris Cordell was the sole member to oppose the proposal, stating the issue was not a high-enough priority and warning about potential lawsuits that might arise.
According to the city manager's report, the project will take staff time away from other high-priority ventures, such as efforts to rekindle the local economy, redesign the city's golf course to add new playing fields, renovate the outdated police headquarters, or build an auto row near U.S. Highway 101.
"I'm just so concerned that we, as a council, get our priorities in shape," Cordell said.
Other council members said the telecommunications project was important.
"I think it's time for Palo Alto to step forward and reclaim its mantle of leadership on these types of issues," Councilman John Barton said.
The three new council members who took office this month -- Barton, Peter Drekmeier and Larry Klein -- voted in favor of the proposal. Three other council members -- Mayor Judy Kleinberg, Jack Morton and Dena Mossar -- did not participate in the discussion due to various conflicts of interest.
The specific system the council is seeking would provide 100 megabits per second of bandwidth. That means a proposal using wireless technologies -- while not strictly forbidden by the council's vote -- is not likely to be offered by a potential private partner because wireless systems cannot provide that much bandwidth.
The most likely technology for the system is fiber-optic cable.
The city has long studied constructing such a telecommunications project, but getting a system online will not move as quickly as downloading a song from iTunes. No timeline for officially requesting and receiving proposals was given Tuesday night, but will likely take many months due to expected procedural delays.
The specific legal document potential partners will respond to will return to the council at a future date.
Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.
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