West Hartford Sen. Bye Testifies in Favor of Gigabit Network

State Sen. Beth Bye (D-West Hartford, Farmington) testified in support of a bill that would help bring gigabit Internet infrastructure to municipalities across the state.

Gigabit Internet would deliver speeds of 1,000 megabits per second, which is about 100 times faster than the average home Internet speed.

Bye helped in the issuance of a Request for Qualifications that seeks companies interested in increasing access to the gigabit networks across the state while reducing costs for consumers.

Companies like Google Fiber already are in the process of setting up networks across the country. Google Fiber has three cities that have gigabit networks up and running and there are four others that are in the process.

Right now residential customers in Austin, Texas can sign-up for Google Fiber for $70 a month with a one-year commitment.

Bye said there could be some resistance from current telecom providers.

“The telecom companies have very talented lobbyists in Connecticut and around the country. They spend tens of millions of dollars in the political system on campaigns and lobbying. These telecoms have an inherent interest in keeping their current monopolies,” she said. “But my constituents, who started me down this road, are hungry for better service, lower prices, and higher speed Internet in their homes, in their schools and at their businesses. Connecticut has one of the very best regulatory environments in the nation to build high-speed broadband for all. Let’s do this!”

Photo cutline: State Rep. Brian Becker (D-West Hartford), state Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz of West Hartford, West Hartford Deputy Mayor Shari Cantor, and state Senator Beth Bye (D-West Hartford) stand outside a hearing room in the Legislative Office Building shortly after offering their support for a bill that would help create a statewide ‘gigabit’ Internet network in Connecticut. (February 10, 2015)