gigabit seattle – Steve Blum's Blog

Illinois says Gigabit Squared lied repeatedly, wants $2 million back

31 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, chicago, community networks, ftth, gig u, gigabit seattle, gigabit squared, illinois, public policy, seattle

Once upon a time, it was strictly formal dress for sunrise.

The company that sold magically cheap fiber and a business case built on fairy dust to Seattle, then left town owing fifty grand is in even bigger trouble in Chicago. The state of Illinois gave Gigabit Squared a $2 million grant to deploy “ultra high speed” Internet access on the city’s south side and, to say the least, isn’t seeing results, according to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times (h/t to the Baller-Herbst list for the pointer)…

Gigabit Squared, a Cincinnati-based company that last May touted the high-speed project in nine South Side communities, “has lied repeatedly” about its intentions and may have spent only $250,000 of the grant money for legitimate purposes, said David Roeder, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which issued the grant.

… More

Mayor closes the curtain on Gigabit Seattle's political theater

10 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, community networks, ftth, gigabit seattle, gigabit squared, public policy

Running with the bull.

Gigabit Seattle will quickly fade away in the new year, judging by the lost faith of its most prominent cheerleader, outgoing mayor Mike McGinn. In an interview with GeekWire, McGinn expressed the sort of caring doubt politicians use to distance themselves from, say, a blood relative who’s been busted for indecent familiarity with farm animals for the third time…

“We’re now a year into it and the question is, will it work or not?”

… More