As the City revises its networks to increase bandwidth, the convergence of technologies may offer advantages in cost and efficiency. Growing competition among suppliers. Today, there is growing competition to provide communications capability in some market segments. It is essential for the City to manage its telecommunications systems carefully in order to maintain required reliability and cost effectiveness, including those services purchased from private service providers. Regional cooperation .
Communications networks cover wide geographic areas and represent large investments.
There are significant opportunities for cooperative partnership with regional agencies and many of these partnerships have been initiated already by the City. The installation of fiber optic cables through downtown Seattle has allowed the City and its partners, including King County, the University of Washington and others, to acquire increased communications capacity at significant savings. Public Telecommunication Needs. The City of Seattle also owns and operates utilities which provide the utility poles and conduit often needed to provide telecommunication services. Consideration needs to be given to promoting competition while minimizing public disruption.