San Antonio City Council OKs Google Fiber contract

Google Fiber Texas' Mark Strama, who's overseeing the rollout of the fiber network in Austin, is seen with Mayor Julián Castro. Google Fiber Texas' Mark Strama, who's overseeing the rollout of the fiber network in Austin, is seen with Mayor Julián Castro. Photo: San Antonio Express-News / File Photo Photo: San Antonio Express-News / File Photo Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close San Antonio City Council OKs Google Fiber contract 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — The City Council approved an important real estate contract with Google on Thursday and implored the company to officially select San Antonio as a market for its super-high-speed, fiber-optic network.

Council members also pushed for details about when residents here could get the coveted service.

The approved long-term, master-lease agreement with Google Fiber Texas, LLC., gives the company the ability to efficiently deploy some 40 “fiber huts” — 12-by-26-foot communications shelters that house tech infrastructure for fiber-optic gigabit Internet, which clocks speeds 100 times faster than typical broadband.

Mayor Julián Castro said the contract approval lays the legal framework needed for Google to move forward with its network in San Antonio.

“What we've seen in other communities in which Google Fiber has moved in is that it lowers the cost of Internet access for everyday consumers,” Castro said. “And that's a great thing in a place like San Antonio, where we do still see a significant digital divide.”

Though Google officials continue to stress that none of the 34 cities in nine metro areas has yet been selected for the network, Castro repeatedly has said he's confident San Antonio will become a Google Fiber city.

Castro asked Google Fiber Texas' Mark Strama, who's overseeing the rollout of the fiber network in Austin, what will happen now that the city has approved the master-lease agreement. And Councilman Ray Lopez drove the query home, saying his office has fielded constituent calls asking: “When can I get it?”

Part of Strama's job here is to manage expectations.

“Once an announcement is made — if an announcement is made to deploy Google Fiber here — then there's a lot of engineering and construction that follows that,” he said. “So I just want to set expectations appropriately about that.”

Rene Dominguez, director of the city's Economic Development Department, told the council that staff should be done collecting and transmitting data and information required by Google in the next two to three weeks.

Google still has to conduct engineering studies, Strama said, to determine whether it could build a fiber-optic network in San Antonio.

San Antonio sits in a strong position, in part because it owns CPS Energy. That means easier access to utility poles that would carry portions of Google's fiber-optic lines.

In other areas, utility companies are owned by a third party. That's not a deal killer, but it may make things more difficult.

CPS Energy owns 86 percent of the utility poles in San Antonio, while AT&T owns the other 14 percent.

“The municipal ownership of the utility is helpful, but not all the markets that we're looking at have that, so I can't say that it's dispositive,” Strama said.

Under the contract approved Thursday, Google will pay an annual rate of $2,250 per site in the first year. The rent escalates by 3 percent each year in the initial 20-year term. The leases can then be renewed in five-year increments for 15 more years.

The city and Google have yet to identify specific locations for the 40 fiber huts, but they're expected to be installed at libraries, fire and police stations and other city properties across San Antonio.

Councilman Diego Bernal told Strama and the council that he believes this city is primed for a tremendous leap forward and that he believes Google Fiber is it. He asked Strama to consider the significance of the network for San Antonio in particular.

“This project would be transformative. It's not often that as a council person... you get to take a vote or move something forward that would completely transform your community,” he said.” And I believe that this would absolutely do that.”

Bernal had one more request for Google.

“When we get this, and I believe we will, I would like to request a San Antonio-themed Google homepage,” he said. “That would be really nice.”

jbaugh@express-news.net