The city of Los Angeles board of supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to send out a "request for proposal" (RFP) to ISPs for the build of a massive new fiber-based network that would bring 1 gigabit-per-second broadband to the whole city.
Los Angeles Information Technology Agency general manager Steve Reneker told Ars Technica Tuesday that the RFP, which will likely be released next month, "would require fiber to be run to every residence, every business, and every government entity within the city limits of Los Angeles."
The first question that comes to mind after hearing this news is whether or not Google Fiber will respond to the RFP. Chances are it will not. For one thing, Google doesn't normally respond to RFPs. For another, L.A. is requiring its suitors to serve both residents and businesses, and so far Google Fiber has been a purely residential service.
And for a third thing, the City of L.A. would like a vendor that can also offer cellular service. It's very unlikely Google would want to get involved in that business. This part of the RFP would seem to favor AT&T or Verizon.
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