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Council discusses wholesale dark-fiber agreement; action continued for more review
Summary
Providence staff presented a proposed wholesale access (dark-fiber) agreement that would allow leasing city-owned fiber for point-to-point commercial connections. Council deferred action for further review and stakeholder input.
City Manager Ryan presented a proposed wholesale access agreement that would let third parties lease Providence-owned dark fiber for point-to-point connections and backbone circuits (commercial, institutional or multi-site customers).
Ryan said the agreement would add a revenue stream for the city and could let businesses or other entities connect across multiple sites without running parallel fiber. He said the proposal is not intended for residential use and that it would need careful drafting to avoid undermining the city's existing open-access ISP framework.
Councilmembers raised concerns about exclusivity, safeguards for the city's open-access policy, the need to protect existing ISPs on the network and whether the city should add pricing terms to its existing network operator agreement rather than sign a separate wholesale agreement. Staff said Strata (the network operator) had reviewed the draft and other ISPs were being consulted.
After discussion the council voted to continue the item to a future meeting to allow more outreach to ISPs and other cities for examples, and to give staff time to incorporate suggested protections and pricing. No pricing or final contract terms were adopted at this meeting.
