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Mayor’s report says Google Fiber intends to set up in SLC

Posted at 5:08 PM, Feb 20, 2015
and last updated 2015-02-20 19:56:04-05

SALT LAKE CITY — A report by the mayor’s office and obtained by FOX 13 on Friday said Google Fiber intends to set up its uber-high speed Internet service within the city.

The Salt Lake City Council will discuss a “video and broadband franchise agreement” with Google at Tuesday’s meeting. Mayor Ralph Becker’s office is asking the council to sign it.

The franchise agreement allows Google Fiber the ability to “place and maintain its facilities within city rights-of-way, governed by certain conditions and after securing permits.”

The report, obtained by FOX 13 on Friday, said Google Fiber has assured the mayor’s office its ultimate goal is to “pursue the construction of a high-speed Google Fiber broadband network in Salt Lake City.”

From the report:

Google Fiber report

Because Google’s building is not completely certain, the mayor’s report said that it was unknown what the budget impact to taxpayer dollars would be. The mayor’s office did predict that it would lead to a drop in revenues from Comcast of about $20,000-25,000 per year.

“Whether this is offset by any increase in revenue from additional franchise fees from new Google Fiber customers remains to be seen,” the report said. “Finally, Google Fiber has asserted that evidence from other markets suggests that if it were to build a fiber optic network in Salt Lake City, the City would benefit from broader economic effects such an increased investment and, as a result, increased tax revenues.”

In a statement to FOX 13, the mayor’s office said:

“We’re excited that the last pieces of the puzzle are in process in the work we’ve been doing in partnership with Google. While the final decision will not be made until we have that work completed, we remain very optimistic about Salt Lake City’s chances of becoming a Google Fiber City and making ultra-high-speed internet access available to every resident.”

Google Fiber has been working with the city since last year to bring its ultra high speed network in. The tech giant has a fiber network in Provo.

Read the report to the Salt Lake City Council here: