Seattle sues defunct Gigabit Squared for over $50K in unpaid bills

Gigabit Squared may now be defunct, but Seattle wants to recoup more than $50,000 in unpaid bills for services the city completed before it severed its agreement with the company in January, reports the Puget Sound Business Journal.

In 2013, Gigabit Squared announced an agreement where it would lease Seattle's existing dark fiber network with the hopes of bringing high-speed broadband service to areas of the city that did not have many service options.

After the city completed research on the amount and location of its fiber facilities, Gigabit Squared did not move forward with its promised buildout plans.

According to the lawsuit, Gigabit Squared has closed its doors. Co-founder and President Mark Ansboury resigned from the company in January after the deal with Seattle fell apart.

Officials said in the suit that they are seeking $52,250 in unpaid bills for research and reports city employees put together, plus related legal fees.

Filed on June 24 in King County Superior Court, the trial for date between the city of Seattle and Gigabit Squared is set for August 2015.

Despite the failed Gigabit Squared relationship, Seattle's new CTO Michael Mattmiller told the PSBJ that city officials will consider building a city-owned broadband network, but added that they would look at partnering with a private partner.

Seattle is only one city where Gigabit Squared failed. In April, Chicago demanded that the company give back the $2 million in grant money it awarded the company last year to bring fiber-based broadband to the South Side communities.

For more:
- Puget Sound Business Journal has this article

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