Google Fiber Scores Agreement with Another Kansas Municipality

The agreement with Olathe is similar to the ones Google arranged with other Kansas City area municipalities, according to the city’s agreement documents. “However, the Olathe Agreements provide much greater detail and clarity regarding several matters, including, but not limited to, the City of Olathe’s submittal requirements and right-of-way usage conditions, Google’s responsibilities to properly install and maintain its facilities, and Google’s obligations to relocate its facilities as a result of City infrastructure projects,” the city said in an agreement executive summary. The agreement gives Google the ability to design, construct and install its fiber network, allows it to design, construct and install a Wi-Fi network and calls on the company to provide “up to 1 Gigabit capable broadband Internet services to up to 4 public facilities for up to 10 years,” the agreement specifies. If Google decides to develop a Wi-Fi network, which is not a certainty and wouldn’t necessarily happen until after the fiber network is built, it'll have to give public access throughout “designated areas open to the public” for up to five years, the agreement added.

AT&T praised the Google agreement and wants service providers treated equally. “AT&T’s goal is to move aggressively toward new and better communication networks -- advanced, high-speed networks are a critical platform for connecting Kansans and growing the state,” spokeswoman Molly Kocour Boyle said in a statement. “We believe that lawmakers at the local, state and federal level should remove impediments to broadband deployment, and we are encouraged to see that happening through negotiated regulatory agreements in areas like Kansas City and Olathe. AT&T welcomes the competition since more broadband options greatly benefit Kansas and its consumers, but it is imperative that all service providers are treated equally under the law and can equally benefit from the negotiations that reduce and remove regulatory obstacles to broadband deployment. We are pleased we were able to work out a similar agreement with Kansas City, Missouri."

"You have to wait and see a little bit to see the full impact this'll have on your community,” Olathe Councilman John Bacon told us. “As with any new provider, there’s always an angst with existing providers.” But competition is good and raises the level of service overall, he said, pleased that Olathe now has several cable providers and with fair agreements permitting that competition. Olathe had heard of businesses drawn to the faster speeds becoming available in Kansas City, he added, pointing to that potential benefit. “We'll have to be patient,” he said. Olathe has to monitor how effective Google will be at attracting customers and reaching a “critical mass of end users,” he said.

Olathe will receive a 5 percent franchise fee on gross receipts Google generates from building its fiber network, the agreement said. The city also takes certain costs onto itself and in the agreement noted it’s “responsible for any construction and make ready costs related to any City or other infrastructure within the WiFi area that may be required to enable Network Provider to install and operate the equipment” for the city’s Wi-Fi. The city won’t charge Google beyond its franchise and attachment fees, it said, but noted Google would have to pay “to relocate its utility equipment and fiber housing structures in the event of City capital improvement projects and to pay all costs to install, maintain, alter, or relocate.”

Google also must defer to certain government authority and is “required to obtain and is responsible for any necessary permit, license, certification, grant, registration or any other authorization required by any other appropriate governmental entity, including, but not limited to, the Kansas Corporation Commission,” the right-of-way agreement noted. State regulation in Kansas is currently up in the air, as the Legislature pushes forward a bill that would restrict state regulation of Internet Protocol-enabled services while the commission asserts it has authority over interconnected VoIP providers (CD Feb 20 p5).

Olathe Mayor Michael Copeland offered many statements in favor of the fiber network, which will choose its locations by demand and again by “fiberhood” pre-registrations. “Technology has influenced the way we live and work in Olathe,” Copeland said. “Tonight’s announcement is about our future and the endless possibilities for Olathe students, businesses and entrepreneurs who will no doubt leverage this technology and connectivity to achieve things that are truly innovative and transformational.”

Google concurred in a blog post: “Olathe has become one of the fastest-growing cities in Kansas and has attracted an influx of new businesses and residents,” said Community Manager Rachel Hack (http://bit.ly/15qNzx0). “They've all noticed what a great community Olathe is, and so have we. We think that Fiber and widespread Internet access will help to create jobs, grow local businesses, and make Olathe even stronger as it grows.” There’s a lot of “planning and engineering work” required before any set timetable or schedule with Olathe’s network, the Google post said. The agreement noted that Olathe will “promptly” be providing Google with publicly available map and address information when called on to do so. It noted that this agreement won’t affect the ongoing construction schedule in the Kansas City area, where Google is building now on the Kansas side and eventually in Missouri.

"Hopefully, this is the first of several announcements that we'll be able to make about bringing Google Fiber to additional cities in the KC metro area; so stay tuned,” Google added in the post.