FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 5, 2019

MEDIA CONTACTS

Tanisha Jumper, Media and Communications, tjumper@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 591-5152
Maria Lee, Media and Communications, maria.lee@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 591-2054

City Council Approves Agreements With Rainier Connect to Operate Click! Network

Tonight, the City Council voted to approve agreements with Rainier Connect to operate the municipally owned Click! Network. They also voted to approve a surplus declaration of anything in the system that is not needed for utility purposes.

The agreements grant Rainier Connect the right to use excess capacity over the Click! Network to provide video and broadband services, while the City of Tacoma retains ownership of the network.

“We are pleased that the City will retain ownership of the Click! Network, which we believe will continue to grow and meet its customers’ needs in innovative ways,” said Mayor Victoria Woodards. “Rainier Connect is committed to providing high quality video and broadband internet services in competition with other providers, ensuring that customer privacy requirements are protected, complying with net neutrality standards, and providing a low-cost broadband service to our most vulnerable residents.”

The 21-year-old retail cable TV and wholesale internet service has not been a financially viable enterprise for the City for several years. Over the last few years, Tacoma Public Utilities staff and policymakers have engaged in extensive public outreach to get input on policy goals and have conducted considerable due diligence reviewing multiple business models to inform their decision to pursue a public-private partnership that would retain and maintain the Click! Network.

Rainier Connect was chosen as a partner through a competitive selection process based on their compliance with policy goals.

Additional information on this process is available at MyTPU.org/ClickUpdate.

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