The Louisiana Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision clearing the way for the City of Lafayette to issue bonds to finance its Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTP) Project. As described by the Court, FTTH technology delivers telecommunications services via fiber optic cables to every home and business in the covered area. In contrast, a more traditional system delivers services to a distant point, with the remaining distance to each home and business being covered by technically inferior and bandwidth-limiting copper (telephone) wires. The decision ends eighteen months of litigation, starting after the citizens of Lafayette voted 62% to 38% in a July 16, 2005 election to issue up to $125 million in bonds for the Project. Project opponents filing suit to block the bond issuance included the incumbent cable and telephone companies, as well as two Lafayette residents. For additional news articles relating to the decision, see http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070223/NEWS01/702230321/1002 and http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/6008236.html
Municipals’ entry into the communications market has been hotly contested across the country, including in Louisiana. See http://www.baller.com/comm_broadband.html. City Officials hope to use Lafayette’s FTTH technology to attract high-tech businesses, and aim to start serving customers in approximately eighteen months. The Court’s decision is available at http://www.lasc.org/opinions/2007/06C2227.opn.pdf