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Santa Monica is making their excess fiber work for them to drive economic development and put money back into their general fund. They receive over $1 million in revenue per year just leasing dark fiber to a few institutions. Imaging how much they could be earning with a community-wide infrastructure.
City’s dark fiber network attracts businesses
DOWNTOWN — Something runs underneath Santa Monica. Something dark. Something that reaches into City Hall, into schools, into hospitals, into office buildings.
But this dark something isn’t exactly menacing. In fact, it’s meant to help the city be technologically advanced and attract businesses to locate here.
City Hall has been leasing its dark fiber to local businesses for four years with the intention of attracting businesses to locate here in order to spur economic development. The revenue from the leasing has then gone toward providing free public wireless internet.