The City of Westminster, Maryland has issued a Request for Information to gauge interest from service providers for a potential City-built fiber optic network. The City is seeking private partners to operate, maintain, and sell Internet service over the network, which could offer speeds as high as multi-hundreds of megabits, or even a gigabit per second.

Today’s RFI is the latest development in a strategic broadband plan that began last fall, when the Westminster Common Council unanimously voted to commission a study on broadband expansion for the City. The prospects for bringing fiber to Westminster homes and businesses are greater than ever now, due to construction of the Inter-County Broadband Network (ICBN). The ICBN will enable existing fiber facilities in Carroll County, including the future Westminster network, to access the commodity Internet through access points in neighboring jurisdictions.

The RFI states that the City seeks a network that is open access, covers the entire City, and specifically addresses the needs of the business community. Responses to the RFI are due May 3, 2013.