US Internet's gradual expansion of its fiber optic network across south Minneapolis has run into a roadblock: the Minneapolis Park Board.
The firm expects to offer its cheap, fast alternative to Comcast and CenturyLink to neighborhoods north of Lake Hiawatha later this year, and now expects to reach the Mississippi River some time in 2017. However, Park Board commissioners won't let the small Internet service firm dig under parkland, preventing the firm from moving south of Minnehaha Creek, going southwest of Lake Harriet or connecting homes that face the parkway.
The problem has surfaced in recent weeks as residents along the parkway discovered it would cost the Internet company $27,000 in permit fees to bury a line to connect their home, even though neighbors just up side streets already have US Internet service.
The dispute stems from a permit request last year by the Minnetonka-based company, which parks officials derided as woefully incomplete.
Commissioners denied the permit, arguing the firm essentially hadn't done its homework — not providing detailed plans for how and where it will dig, not proving there was no choice but to dig on park land, not providing accurate drawings for where trees stand and how the company will avoid damaging them, and not responding in a timely manner to Park Board staff questions.
Discussion of the issue dominated the last hour of the Feb. 3 Park Board meeting, though some commissioners were sympathetic to the company's mission.
"I think it's probably smart to deny this, but I think it's also probably smart to continue to work with them," said Commissioner Brad Bourn. "I don't think we want to be viewed as obstructive to people accessing technology."
US Internet can't use the utility poles that Comcast and Centurylink use, so the company must bury its fiber optic. By offering high-speed Internet for cheap — 100 Mbps for $40 per month — the firm generates buzz in neighborhood forums as its crews move eastward.
