Time Warner loses Missouri muni fiber fight

Time Warner this week lost an appeal aimed at blocking the city of North Kansas City, Mo., from extending its fiber optic network to residents and local businesses.

The cable company sued the city in late 2004, arguing that, under state law, the city could not offer cable television service without first getting voters’ approval. A federal judge rejected that argument, pointing out that although the city was moving forward with plans to provide high-speed Internet access (to which the state law does not apply), it has no plans to offer cable. The judge dismissed Time Warner’s lawsuit this spring, and this week’s ruling by a three-judge panel in the 8Th Circuit upheld that dismissal.

Using equipment from WorldWide Packets, the city broke ground on the construction of the network on Dec. 8. and expects to begin offering services this spring. By extending the fiber optic network that already connects municipal buildings, the city hopes to offer five tiers of broadband service to essentially all of its 2500 homes and 900 businesses. Speeds will range between a 256 kb/s service for $15 per month to a 30 Mb/s for $160 per month. The standard offering will be a symmetrical 5-Mb/s service for $35 per month.

The city expects to complete construction of the network in June.