"The mayor’s office has opposed the larger municipal broadband initiative, saying the $480 million to $665 million project simply isn’t possible without some type of outside funding. Seattle CTO Michael Mattmiller and Ben Noble, director of the Budget Office, wrote a letter to the council ahead of today’s vote discouraging members from supporting the pilot program.
Today’s vote essentially ends the possibility of the North Beacon Hill project for the time being. But Upgrade Seattle, a grassroots movement pushing for municipal broadband, says this will by no means end the larger debate.
'I don’t consider it a blow,' Upgrade Seattle organizer Sabrina Roach told GeekWire on Monday. 'I think more people in Seattle now have awareness that municipal broadband is possible.'”