Fort Collins has shown its commitment to maintaining net neutrality at least one place in Colorado by voting to move ahead with plans to deliver "high speed next-generation broadband to the entire community," National Public Radio reported.
The vote earlier this week came after residents approved a ballot initiative in November authorizing the city to build a broadband network, despite resistance from cable and telecom companies, Ars Technica reported.
According to NPR, the new utility service will see the city become its own internet service provider, with its own infrastructure built from $150 million approved in bonds expected to be paid off within 14 years.
The plan sparked an anti-municipal broadband lobbying campaign driven by Comcast and CenturyLink, which forked out thousands of dollars in advertising campaigns through a group called Priorities First Fort Collins, NPR said.
Nearly 60 percent of residents voted in favor of the broadband plan and a city government spokesperson confirmed that the Fort Collins City Council voted 7-0 to approve the municipal broadband network, which will be neutral and without data caps.
Glen Akins, a resident who helped lead the pro-municipal broadband campaign, told Ars Technica that “three unanimous votes begin the process of building our city's own broadband network.”
She added, "We're extremely pleased the entire city council voted to support the network after the voters' hard fought election victory late last year. The municipal broadband network will make Fort Collins an even more incredible place to live."
According to Ars Technica, a new planning document noted the network would “deliver a 'net-neutral' competitive unfettered data offering that does not impose caps or usage limits on one use of data over another (i.e., does not limit streaming or charge rates based on type of use).”
The document said “all application providers (data, voice, video, cloud services) are equally able to provide their services, and consumers' access to advanced data opens up the marketplace."