For much of the last decade Seattle has explored the idea of building their own ultra-fast broadband network. Much of that motivation was fueled by the sub-standard service provided in the region by regional telco Qwest (now CenturyLink), which in turn resulted in regional cable operator Comcast not working very hard.

Enter newer Seattle Ed Murray who has admitted that Seattle needs significantly more broadband competition, but since he took office in 2013 has shot down the idea of a Seattle-owned fiber network as too expensive.

Last fall, some city council leaders proposed spending $5 million on a gigabit fiber build in the neighborhood of North Beacon Hill, then moving forward with a larger, $480 million to $665 million network if the trial deployment showed promise. But the city council voted down the idea, striking a blow for a growing number of Seattle residents who -- tired of CenturyLink and Comcast service -- want to explore the idea of broadband as a utility.

Murray reiterated last week that such an idea remains too expensive for a city that just spent $930 million on a major transportation initiative.

"When I came into office, I was very excited about the possibility of municipal broadband until the study came back and indicated it would be literally the largest tax increase in Seattle,” the Mayor said at a conference this week in the city.