We've been tracking the deployment of municipally-owned fiber in Lafayette, Louisiana for years, the project being particularly notable for some of the sleazy efforts made by Comcast and AT&T (then SBC) to kill it. Those efforts, back in 2005, included everything from hinting at exporting local support jobs if the deal was approved, to hiring push pollsters to try and convince locals that the government-controlled project would result in politicians rationing consumer TV viewing.

Despite the propaganda, the largely Conservative community of Lafayette voted to approve the project. But then it faced delays from lawsuits filed by mysterious, very concerned and very wealthy locals, who many in the community believe were proxies for incumbents, gun shy from the negative national publicity their project-killing efforts began to generate. The city prevailed there as well, despite being financially outgunned.

However, as of February 2007, $3.5 million had been spent on the project without any actual fiber being run, most of those costs due to having to fight local incumbents in court. Years after their fight began, the project is set to begin offering FTTH service to locals starting next month, project leaders still promising service 20% cheaper than local incumbents. Pricing hasn't been revealed, one assumes in part to keep Cox on their heels: