Mediacom sues Iowa City as muni fiber network goes online

A municipally backed fiber-optic broadband network in Iowa City that is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Mediacom has been activated. 

According to local paper the Press-Citizen, Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based vendor ImOn Communications, which built and operates the network, is now offering phone and Internet services to downtown businesses.

Iowa City officials, meanwhile, have retained Des Moines law firm BrownWinick to represent them in a lawsuit filed by Mediacom on Dec. 21. 

Mediacom spokesman Thomas Larsen gave FierceCable this brief statement: "We just want Iowa City to be fair and consistent in its regulation of competing cable companies."

However, MSO reps have told the Press-Citizen that the city's agreements with ImOn, which allow the company to lease excess network capacity, give ImOn an unfair advantage over the cable company. 

Phyllis Peters, Mediacom's communications director, told the paper: "We want to resolve the issues that we have, which are not issues with ImOn. They're issues with how city leaders choose to define the structure and framework of doing business with one telecommunications company versus another when we provide the same services."

Mediacom filed its suit in the U.S. District Court's Southern District of Iowa, according to records obtained by the paper.

For more:
- read this Press-Citizen story

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