Firm that sparked outcry in 2015 when it tried to lease Tacoma's Click network is trying again

One of the parties that's interested in being a part of the future of Click Cable TV is Wave Broadband, the same company whose 2015 offer to lease Click for 40 years sparked a local political movement to keep the municipally-owned network in public hands.

Wave, which since has been purchased by a private equity firm, was one of five companies to respond to a broad call seeking potential partners for the network. The city of Tacoma sought the proposals months ago in hopes of getting help to finance Click's future and run the network. The city has said it will maintain ownership.

Facing a lawsuit challenging the legality of Click's funding, the City Council and board of Tacoma Public Utilities decided earlier this year to abandon a plan to develop Click into a municipally owned and operated internet, cable and phone service that would get funding help from Tacoma Power revenues.

They then decided to gauge interest from potential public or private partners who could run the network while Tacoma retained ownership, in the hopes of keeping it affordable, net neutral and publicly owned.

Wave responded to the call and said it seeks long-term use of the Click network in exchange for compensating TPU with leasing fees, network upgrades and performance guarantees.

Local internet service providers Rainier Connect and Advanced Stream, both of which currently lease space on the Click network, submitted responses. European-based Yomura Fiber and relative newcomer Wyyerd also expressed interest in taking over Click's operations.

In December 2015, the City Council rejected an offer by Wave to lease Click for 40 years. The council also directed Tacoma Power to develop a business plan for keeping the network public, a proposal that was referred to as the "all-in" plan and was met with fanfare by Click fans. Under that plan, Click would have been transformed into a new business model with major network upgrades.

That business model and network upgrades were to be paid for in party with Tacoma Power revenues, a major point of contention in the current lawsuit.

At a joint session of the council and utility board Tuesday, consultant Joanne Hovis of CTC Technology & Energy laid out the pros and cons of the five responses. She said all five companies deserved follow-up interviews to get more information, and all had submitted thorough responses.

Rainier Connect and Advanced Stream are local and know the network and the market, Hovis said, but Rainier Connect wanted TPU to pay for upgrades to the Click network and Advanced Stream is largely advocating for keeping the status quo, in which various ISPs lease access to the Click network.

"Advanced Stream says it supports financial stability but fundamentally does not acknowledge today's financial problems," Hovis wrote in a memo. "Rainier Connect says it supports financial stability, but is seeking a $26.25 million loan from TPU which would be repaid by speculative increased revenues."

The three outsider companies appear to have technical experience and the private funding needed to upgrade and maintain the Click network, Hovis' memo said. One company, Wyyerd, had expressed a strong preference for buying Click, which the council and utility board have said isn't an option.

All the companies said they were willing to meet the city's 12 goals for Click: municipal ownership, net neutrality, equity, preserving competition, affordability, open access, protecting customer privacy, good customer service, financial stability, safeguarding public-sector use, job security for Click employees and promoting economic development and education.

"The responses suggest that there is sufficient market interest that we would recommend moving onto next steps," Hovis said Tuesday. "There were five thoughtful, clearly well-prepared responses that show significant effort, work and thoughtfulness. They're all remarkably different from each other which is probably a good thing and a testament to the fact that there are lots of different approaches."

All five responses can be viewed at www.clickcabletv.com/about/click-rfi/.

This story was originally published May 22, 2018 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Firm that sparked outcry in 2015 when it tried to lease Tacoma's Click network is trying again."