Portland is looking into a new, more modest broadband plan, after its last idea for a massive fiber-optic network came with a price tag of half a billion dollars.
Portland is looking into a new, more modest broadband plan, after its last idea for a massive fiber-optic network came with a price tag of half a billion dollars.
Commissioner Dan Saltzman oversees Portland’s Office of Cable & Franchise Management, which crafted the plan. This time out, Saltzman said, the city wants to marshal private resources, even if it takes a while for changes to take hold.
“This approach right now is a much more collaborative approach,” Saltzman said, “working with CenturyLink, Comcast, Integra (Telecom) and others.”
Eight months and $65,000 in the making, Portland’s new plan is just a first step, according to Mary Beth Henry, deputy director of the city’s cable office, who led the broadband planning effort.
The plan outlines a series of goals, she said, including establishing a broadband map, exploring a “dig once” standard for laying fiber-optic cable whenever street work is done, and pushing the city itself to demonstrate how fast Internet connections can improve communication and responsiveness.
Read more at OregonLive.com.
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