West Seattle Junction added to Gigabit Squared demonstration project, says mayor in State of the City

Announced by Mayor McGinn in his “State of the City” speech this afternoon: The West Seattle Junction area has been added (along with Ballard) to a demonstration project involving a “public/private partnership with the University of Washington and Gigabit Squared to bring next generation high-speed broadband infrastructure to Seattle. … More than 3,300 people have signed up with an interest in using Gigabit Squared services, along with more than 130 businesses and numerous apartment buildings. Gigabit Squared has also secured the funding they need to begin detailed engineering.” More about the company here. Its Neighborhood Gateway program is described as working toward broadband “100 to 1,000 times faster than what Americans have today.” (We will be following up with Gigabit Squared to get West Seattle-specific answers – but they’re headquartered back east so we may not get more info till tomorrow. [added] As commenters note, G2 has a Seattle-specific website.)

P.S. Here’s the prepared text of the mayor’s speech, which includes another West Seattle reference of note: “We’re also working with Sound Transit to accelerate their planning process, including a Ballard to Redmond [rail] line via 520 and a route from downtown to West Seattle.”

4thGenWS February 19, 2013 (3:45 pm)

Please bring this to the gatewood neighborhood. I would like nothing better than to call comcast and tell them to shove it!

Jeff February 19, 2013 (3:56 pm)

I want that internet connection so so much. Not promising that their website is full of broken links.

Mike February 19, 2013 (3:56 pm)

And the Admiral neighborhood!

Joe February 19, 2013 (4:07 pm)

I so hope this goes city wide.

Rosa2u2 February 19, 2013 (4:09 pm)

Can anybody sign up? I want it!

Chris February 19, 2013 (4:13 pm)

I can’t wait to get rid of Comcast.

JunctionMeg February 19, 2013 (4:24 pm)

Almost missed that last bit – there are conversations in progress re: light rail to WS??? This makes me very happy…if only it would actually happen this time.

Diane February 19, 2013 (4:26 pm)

I was shocked to hear about the Gigabit Squared in West Seattle junction in Mayor’s speech; thanks for posting; really want to hear more details about this
~
I just signed up here; http://gigabitseattle.com/signup/
~
Interested in Gigabit Seattle for your home or business?
Signup and we’ll let you know when service is coming to your neighborhood. The more interest we get from your neighborhood, the more likely your neighborhood becomes priority one.

jno February 19, 2013 (4:47 pm)

Here is the link to the signup page (the link on their page is broken as Jeff pointed out): http://gigabitseattle.com/signup/

WestSeattleSteve February 19, 2013 (4:54 pm)

Here’s the link to the coverage area. Its a small area South of Dakota to about Genesee.

http://gigabitseattle.com/areas/

The URL’s were just mashed up. A common problem with WordPress sites and outside links.

David February 19, 2013 (4:55 pm)

LOL… Not very reassuring to see that a prospective ISP doesn’t keep their links active on their home page.
But, yes, I signed up and would love to kick Comcast down the road.
I just hope they’ll provide service to White Center when they install in West Seattle.

WestSeattleSun February 19, 2013 (4:57 pm)

The price of this service is going to far exceed what you are currently paying Comcast for broadband internet service.

Remember @Home before it was purchased by AT&T and then purchased by Comcast.

The expense of providing redundant service with the promise of faster speed for a higher monthly rate is a tough recipe for budget minded consumers-anywhere.

WSB February 19, 2013 (4:58 pm)

If anyone has questions beyond the obvious (when, where, how much), please comment … I’m working to set up a followup interview. – TR

cjboffoli February 19, 2013 (5:06 pm)

The promise of faster Internet is only the first half of the equation. The other half is pricing. The telecom companies – the robber barrons of our age – have been tremendously successful at manipulating legislation to limit competition and gouge Americans while citizens of other nations are getting much faster and cheaper Broadband services. I’m happy to hear of this development and I’m cautiously optimistic. But I’m still disappointed that this didn’t happen ten years ago when it should have.

Joe February 19, 2013 (5:12 pm)

Tracy, ask them about capacity — what sorts of speeds up and down do they project? Will there be caps or limits on total monthly bandwidth? How much, if so?

cjboffoli February 19, 2013 (5:26 pm)

Joe: When the story of Seattle’s deal with Gigabit Squared was covered back in December it was reported that their service would start at 20 Mbps and would proceed up to 1 Gbps (bilateral).

Westseattledood February 19, 2013 (5:28 pm)

High speed broadband AND rail????

For us??? All in one day??? I

I dunno…campaign season is coming up and I am thinking a couple of timely teases are just that. But it sure would be sweet.

WSB February 19, 2013 (5:54 pm)

A bit more in a mayoral e-mail re: the speech: “Gigabit Squared has secured the funding they need to begin detailed engineering. By April they intend to have an updated business plan. That will include an estimate of how much it will cost to lay fiber to the first 14 neighborhoods, what the service tiers and their costs will be, more precise service boundaries, and when we can start to light this fiber up.”

dcn February 19, 2013 (6:13 pm)

Higher speed internet is all well and good, but light Rail to West Seattle? Believe it when I see it. If I live that long.

Mike February 19, 2013 (6:27 pm)

This is great, now we’re almost caught up with Grant County!

miketown February 19, 2013 (6:55 pm)

looks like we’ll be missing it by 2 blocks. :(

CubanRefugee February 19, 2013 (8:31 pm)

Same here, miketown. Area 13 goes *right up* to Delridge, but not up the hill to the Pigeon Point neighborhood. It makes me a sad nerd.

I must also be the only person who doesn’t think Comcast is crap, but I do have a business class account with them and a steady 50mbps connection.

West Seattle Hipster February 19, 2013 (8:56 pm)

Thanks Mike, best laugh I had all month!

Sue February 19, 2013 (10:16 pm)

I’m also 2 blocks south of the Junction neighborhood zone. And CubanRefugee, I also don’t think Comcast is crap … I’d just like to have some more options.

westseattleboi February 19, 2013 (10:19 pm)

Love the idea of high speed or at least another compedetor for Comcast in the hopes that they might lower the rates. I really want to know more about light rail. To bad the planners won’t likely connect it to the ferry terminal where all the main comuters come from.

Roger Dodger February 20, 2013 (7:04 am)

Either April Fool’s Day is six weeks early or it’s campaign season. I signed up for Gigabit Squared so someday I’d hopefully have an AFFORDABLE alternative to Comcast. But I remember Clearwire and all the others who promised competition, then bailed. (Remember when Paul Allen was going to wire up the town?)

Maybe Gigabit will happen. At least it’s plausible. But light rail to WS? Rail from Ballard to Redmond via the 520 bridge??? Man, where do I get some of what McSchwinn is smoking? (Probably in his campaign manager’s office drawer.)

cjboffoli February 20, 2013 (8:25 am)

CubanRefugee: I’ve been mostly satisfied with Comcast Business Class service as well. But what does that 50 Mbps connection cost you? Many European and Asian broadband customers have service at those speeds for the equivalent of about $30 per month. Americans don’t have enough access to super-fast broadband overall and those that do are getting gouged to have it.

WSB February 20, 2013 (1:12 pm)

Update for anybody following this – Looks like my interviews for the followup will be tomorrow (Thursday) so look for the story then. Still interested in your questions – and anybody who for some reason doesn’t want to leave a comment is always welcome to e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com – Tracy

Sorry, comment time is over.