City commissioners voted 5-1 in favor of the fibre optic license use agreement with Summit Broadband — a telephone company based out of Orlando under a 20-year partnership.

City officials have been in talks with Summit to bring the city up a notch with high-speed internet connectivity. Some of the issues that the city has faced regarding a city-wide internet connection include dark fiber networks (leased by big names in the community), which the City wants to keep, as well as further outside competition such as Verizon Fios and even concerns over the length of the contract.

"Exhibit C" from the city's Memorandum showing fibre strands | Screenshot via The City of Lakeland

Now that the agreement was approved, here’s what it means for Lakeland:

Summit has not solidified costs yet but promises lower rates than the competition
The first customers should expect service within 4 months
Current cables spanning 350-miles will be built upon to service high-speed internet, video, and phone
Internet uploading + downloading speeds will reach 10 gigabytes for residents, all the way to wholesalers
Investors at Summit have promised an investment worth $50,000,000 — $30,000,000 more than commissioners originally proposed, over a 5-year period
The city’s dark fiber network will continue to exist, providing service to its 9 customers

Read more about the deal here.