Santa Monica’s 10 Gigabit Fiber Optic Network Honored:

Santa Monica’s 10 gigabit fiber optic network was recently honored for its ability to provide high speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second while achieving a 67 percent cost reduction.

The honor for Santa Monica City Net was a Government IT Innovator Award at the 2011 Information Week 500 Conference in Dana Point, California.

The City of Santa Monica leases dark fiber and offers lit fiber to local businesses for affordable broadband at 100Mbps, 1Gbps, and 10Gbps speeds.

Santa Monica’s broadband model results in a reduction of construction costs for new broadband service, an increase in purchasing power of connected local businesses, and a broadband market expansion for Internet service providers that now may offer service to small, medium and large commercial buildings.

The city also recently received honors as one of the Top 25 Innovations in Government by the Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Significant Achievement Award from the Public Technology Institute (PTI) for the broadband initiative.