The lease-to-own deal is worth $2.25 million with the city retaining ownership of the network for now.
"It's going to mean [citizens of
The city set out in 2015 to make broadband a city utility, but ran into several issues from costs to Google discontinuing the Fiberhood construction method in 2018 when it was shown to be ineffective.
"We started the journey years ago wanting to bring fiber to the home, high-speed internet, becoming a gigabit city,"
Surf Broadband has served northwest
"We are very interested in expanding our fiber footprint," Armstrong said. "We saw this as an opportunity to work with the city and provide an opportunity that the city needs and wants. It seemed like a good match."
A deal for Surf to buy the network outright came before the council in September, but concerns by council members put the deal on pause at that time before some of the details were reworked.
The deal approved Tuesday includes a 10% down payment to the city with the remainder to be paid off over 10 years at 5% interest. The city will also receive 5% of the gross revenue from Surf Broadband Solutions for 10 years, with the option to renew.
Armstrong said work will begin by the end of the year.
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