The affluent community of Rancho Santa Fe may influence how telecommunications service is delivered to the rest of the county. This wealthy enclave is planning to build a super-fast fiber-optic network that would provide service to both homes and businesses for an estimated $130/month.

The system is proposed as a publicly owned and financed telecom network, which would be built and managed by a private telecommunication firm, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. It would deliver at 1 GBPS and top out at 10 GBPS, or about 850 times faster than the US average connection of 11.7 MB. This is enough power to support seamless internet on multiple devices, plus phone calls, home security and video conferences, as well as stream TV shows in the 4K ultra-high definition quality used by movie theaters.

For decades, cable providers have negotiated contracts with cities. The Rancho Santa Fe proposal would shine a light on how the cable industry monopoly and government policy have limited public access to internet service.

Today’s residential internet access is 10,000 times faster than dial-up service, but lame from a tech-world standpoint. While the latest wireless routers are built to transmit at up to 1.3 GBPS, internet providers are not up to this standard.

The Ranch’s plan will pay $13.5M to build a fiber-optic network that reaches every home and business, using a combination of reserves and bank loans. If just 1,500 users sign up for service, the Ranch’s board estimates the infrastructure would be paid off within 10 years, and at 15 years its equity would generate a nice return that could be used to lower the cost for users or invest in the next big thing. [SDUT]