Commission approves right-of-way license and construction agreement with Ubiquiti North Dakota for citywide fiber option

On April 21 the West Fargo City Commission approved a public right-of-way license agreement and a construction agreement with Ubiquiti North Dakota LLC to allow that company to install a citywide fiber network and offer leasing of dark fiber to service providers.

City Engineer Dan Hansen explained that Ubiquiti is not itself necessarily a service provider but would install and own fiber infrastructure and lease capacity to third-party providers. Because Ubiquiti would not be a traditional franchised cable or telecom utility, the city negotiated a public right-of-way license to set conditions and a 4% payment for the city on the revenues they receive for leasing fiber capacity — a provision Hansen described as functionally similar to a franchise fee. The construction agreement sets standards for permitting, restoration and inspection and provides for the city to recover inspection/observation hours from the company.

Hansen said Ubiquiti intends to use local contractors and that the engineering department’s right-of-way staff will oversee permitting, site meetings and restoration standards. The commission approved both agreements by voice vote. Hansen and right-of-way staff said Ubiquiti must still submit permits for specific work sites and the city will limit the number of concurrent open sites until the company demonstrates reliable restoration performance.

Benjie, the city’s right-of-way manager, added that much of the existing communications infrastructure in the ground is coax and copper and that there are currently limited fiber-to-the-home options, so the new network would increase fiber availability in the community. Commissioners asked about tree, landscaping and restoration protections; staff said site meetings would identify box locations to avoid trees and that boring would be used where practical.