Gigabit Squared will kick off engineering work in Seattle in...

was announced last week (CD Dec 14 p10) and will utilize fiber connections to a dozen neighborhoods as well as create wireless hotspots throughout certain sectors of the city, all starting in fall 2013. There’s a “Catch 22,” where the U.S. lacks advanced broadband and also the apps that would spur demand for it, said Ed Lazowska, a UW computer science and engineering professor who is the school’s point person on the project. “The tragedy is our nation invented all of this stuff, and we are miles away from being the world leader.” The Gigabit Seattle partnership is a step in the right direction, he said, citing the benefit of such public-private partnerships. He criticized the way private broadband deployment has unfolded generally in the U.S.: “That has not worked.” He called the 12 demonstration neighborhoods in Seattle a “great cross-section” of people, businesses and economics that will call for different uses of the advanced broadband speed. Devoto said Seattle hasn’t “given up on broadband” despite the city’s decision to lease the fiber rather than run its own network. She cited the millions of dollars worth of fiber it’s invested in and is now leasing to Gigabit Squared as a significant asset in the partnership: “We're not putting our money in this, but we are in a facilitator role.” Gigabit Squared understands the need “to create powerful applications that will then drive increased use of gigabit-speeds,” she added, which would help solve the Catch-22 Lazowska described. The Gigabit Seattle partnership will still need to figure out how ISPs will factor into the new networks, she said. Gigabit Squared “agreed they will let other ISP providers come to the table and use their network,” she said. “I don’t think they've settled on one particular ISP at this point. They have agreed they will build an open architecture that will allow other ISPs to provide service.” Gigabit Squared hasn’t established its cost model yet, Devoto said.