Charter Communications offers “Gig +” service to commercial customers with speeds that can go above 10 gigabits.

The city of St. Louis, Downtown STL, and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, a city-county agency, issued the request for information Wednesday. It invites companies to suggest how business might provide gigabit service to the city, and eventually St. Louis County.

A request for information is a step short of a request for a proposal to begin construction.

The hope is to roll out the service first in downtown, said Missy Kelley, president of Downtown STL. The service would then expand to Cortex in the Central West End, the Midtown Alley and the Cherokee Street area. The service would then spread through the city and county.

“We’re trying to make it part of the infrastructure throughout the city,” she said.

Most broadband service around St. Louis is provided by Charter and AT&T. CenturyLink operates in parts of St. Charles County.

A Charter spokesman says the company plans to submit a plan for broader gigabit service to the city.

AT&T in 2014 announced plans to roll out gigabit service in St. Louis. Khan said the timing and pricing were unclear.

In an email, AT&T spokeswoman Katie Nagus said “work is underway” to bring speeds of up to one gigabit to “parts of the St. Louis metro area.”

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