The state's consumer counsel and broadband planner have put their heads together with mayors and first selectmen to court investors and technology companies to help build high-speed gigabit broadband networks across the state and offer economical alternatives to private options.
Cities and towns could decide whether to participate or not.
"Basically, what we're trying to do is build the railroad track, if you will, and let anyone run the boxcars," said Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz.
Gigabit connections can handle upload and download speeds of up to 1,000 megabits of data -- approximately half of a standard-definition feature-length movie -- per second.
"This initiative is about much more than movie and music downloads," State Comptroller Kevin Lembo said. "In fact it's hardly about entertainment at all. It's about economic development and innovation."
Stamford has led the charge on the "CTGig Project," as it is known, with multiple goals: to have a "world-leading gigabit network," to offer disadvantaged residents internet for free or at heavy discounts and to offer ultra-high speed connectivity at competitive prices.
"The economies are changing with the amount of people telecommuting or working from home," said Stamford economic development director Thomas Madden. "There is a huge amount of date being used."
The city would not be running the network, he stressed -- just helping in any way it can to get the networks going in the state.
Gigabit networks, which are capable of moving data exponentially faster than the typical connection, are also exponentially more expensive.
Bill Vallee, the state's broadband policy and programs coordinator, said, "Is it $3,000 a month in New Haven? Yes. Is it nuts? Yes. And the reason is, it's monopoly pricing."
The demand for the connections is there, especially from Connecticut businesses, he said.
"Without a doubt, there's a lot of demand in the high-tech business world in this state for a lot higher speeds at a lot lower prices," said Vallee. "If you were in Kansas City, you'd be paying $70 a month for Google Fiber," he said, referring to the gigabit networks that Google has installed in some cities around the country.
This type of infrastructure is as important to the state as any other, Lembo said.
"The state needs to start thinking about high-speed internet the way it thinks about rails and roads," Lembo said. "But fortunately, unlike roads that have to be maintained every three or four years, this infrastructure would outlive any financing."
In a sense, the state is in a better position to offer gigabit networks to consumers than the current internet providers, because it doesn't have money tied up in the existing cable and telephone infrastructure the way Comcast and Optimum do.
At present, the projected taxpayer cost is nil, although Lembo has hinted at public funding. Led by Stamford Mayor David Martin, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp and West Hartford Deputy Mayor Shari Cantor, the state put out an advertisement to potential investors and providers, and asked other municipalities if they'd be interested in joining the program.
Eleven different companies -- including financiers, fiber optic firms and Stamford-based Frontier Communications of Connecticut -- expressed interest in becoming partners, and more than 100 of the state's municipalities have shown they'd like to be able to offer gigabit networks, Katz said
The vendor responses, which the state is keeping confidential, are varied.
"There are some that only focus on smaller projects or being part of the piece of a smaller project," said Katz, "but there are also some options that would be willing to view the whole state."
On Feb. 10, the General Assembly's joint Energy and Technology Committee heard testimony on the matter.
There is a bill before the state senate that may clear the way for gigabit development. At present, it reads only "that the general statutes be amended to facilitate the rapid development of gigabit infrastructure in municipalities across the state."
While the new hardware that partners bring in would likely supplant the hardware that the state's current internet service providers have in the ground and on poles, the state has not ruled them out as possible partners.
"Certainly, we would like to work with any of the incumbent telecommunications companies that are interested in working with us," Katz said.
For now, at least, the objective is to determine an arrangement that any city or town could be part of, according to Katz and city Economic Development Director Thomas Madden.
"Think about it like a contract that's being offered every town, so they can sign on or not," said Katz. "Their board of selectmen or town council could look at the terms and say, `this looks like a good idea.'"
The existing telecoms don't necessarily see the need for the state to create its own infrastructure. Paul Cianelli, president of the New England Cable & Telecommunications Association, stressed that there are already connections of up to 100 gigabits per second for businesses in the state, and that current providers should soon be rolling out gig networks for residential customers as well.
The pricing for the new access, he said, is still unclear. Comcast would be the first company to experiment with it this year.
And in any case, said Cianelli, "the speed is not an issue in Connecticut, and neither is coverage. Connecticut has the fifth fastest speed, average peak connection in the world, second in the United States," referring to a recent study by Akamai Technologies.
"We're not opposed to the gig network project, but the facts are that we are already providing gig service to businesses and we have speeds up to 505 megabits right now," said Cianelli.
©2015 The Advocate (Stamford, Conn.)