Chapel Hill’s Town Council authorized the town manager Monday night to proceed with a bidding process for building a high-speed community Internet network.
The decision does not mean Chapel Hill will contract with a broadband service provider for the Gig-U project – part of the regional North Carolina Next Generation Networks initiative.
A contract would depend on the cost, whether the provider could meet the community’s goals, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, and if the deal could be enforced under state law.
The town will start accepting bids Feb. 1 from service providers that could design, build, install, operate and manage a complete network. A decision tentatively is scheduled for October.
The town has several incentives that could sweeten the deal, including a lease for use of the town’s existing fiber network.
Chapel Hill and Carrboro have installed 46 miles of fiber-optic cable that loop around the towns. Most of that is not being used yet.
Chapel Hill’s partners in the Gig-U project are Carrboro, UNC and UNC Health Care, Durham, Cary, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Duke University, N.C. State University and Wake Forest University and Medical Center.
