Lakeland city commissioners have approved a 20-year partnership today with Summit Broadband of Orlando. Summit will provide high-speed Internet service to Lakeland residents and businesses.
Summit’s CEO Kevin Coyne told reporters the company should be ready to serve its first local customers within four to five months.
Kevin Coyne said it’s too early to say what Summit services will cost consumers.
Commissioner Mike Musick voted against the contract, saying he was uneasy with locking the city into a 20-year commitment and that he feels the partnership would give Summit an unfair advantage over competitors. Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley was absent from today’s meeting.
In the first years of the agreement, Summit will pay the city of Lakeland $144,000 per year. As revenues increase, they will switch to paying the city 10 percent of gross revenue on Internet services.
Other highlights of the proposed partnership:
- The city will continue serving its existing nine dark fiber customers, including Lakeland Regional Health; the revenue stream brings in $543,000 a year, officials said.
- Summit will serve all new residential and business customers; that include current city customers who expand to new facilities, such as Lakeland Regional’s upcoming behavioral health clinic.
- Summit will handle all installation, maintenance, billing and customer service for its customers.
- The city will retain ownership of its fiber network and will continue to maintain the fiber it owns.
- The city will provide up to $100,000 over the life of the contract to “augment” fiber in locations where there are less than six strands that Summit can use.
- Fiber might need to be augmented in places where splices result in speeds slower than 0.30 decibel per kilometer (0.30db/km). Summit can offset those costs against the 10% revenue share but not against the $144,000 annual minimum.
- The city estimates it will spend up to $250,000 per year over the first five years of the contract to support the project. Sherrouse said today that is less than the amount the city would spend anyway to maintain its fiber network.
- Summit will contribute at least $20,000 a year during the first 10 years of the contract toward the city’s effort to “bridge the digital divide,” ensuring free or low-cost Internet is extended into underserved communities.