There’s a fat pipe laying beneath Seattle. Now we have a plan to put it to use in a trial that is planned to bring a municipal high-speed fiber network to twelve neighborhoods by fall 2013 — including most of Capitol Hill and the Central District.

From GeekWire:

The lowdown: Seattle mayor Mike McGinn today announced an agreement with broadband developer Gigabit Squared to operate a high-speed fiber network in Seattle in 12 neighborhoods using the city’s unused “dark fiber” network.

No details on pricing have been announced but the company working on the project promises the various service levels offered will be comparable to competitors like Comcast and Qwest. Speeds will top out around 20 MBPS up to 1 gigabit per second. Just think of how much more CHS you’ll be able to enjoy!

The plan includes a wireless component to bring fast internet service to apartments and condo buildings in the service areas.

While the news could be exciting for geeks around most of the Hill — sorry for anybody around Stevens east of 15th Ave and north of Pike/Pine — it’s especially welcome news in the Central District where residents have suffered with subpar service from commercial providers for decades.

Here’s the full press release:

121213PR-GigabitSeattlepressrelease