Minnesota ISP wants to enter Minneapolis cable TV market

A Minnesota-based Internet service provider announced Wednesday it wants to become the third company to offer cable service in Minneapolis.

USI Wireless already has a wireless network and fiber optic lines in Minneapolis. Company co-founder and CEO Joe Caldwell says USI is prepared to start offering cable through its existing network as soon as the city grants it a franchise.

"The application is just a couple pages long," he said. "We already have it filled out and ready to turn in. From the time the city says 'we're ready to do it,' about six seconds later that application will be on their desk. We're ready to start this now."

Last week, the city granted its first new cable franchise in more than 30 years to CenturyLink. Before that, Comcast had the city's sole cable franchise.

City council member Andrew Johnson says it may take several months for the city to issue a request for proposals for the new franchise and negotiate a deal. Comcast officials have criticized the deal the city struck with CenturyLink because it doesn't require the company to cover more households in its initial service rollout.

Caldwell says USI Wireless already covers nearly 100 percent of the city with its wireless Internet network. And he says fiber will be available to 30 percent of city households by the end of the summer.

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