Irvine Spectrum to Get High-Speed Internet Lines

The Irvine Co. said it has signed a deal with a San Diego telecommunications company to build a fiber-optic network throughout the Irvine Spectrum business center.

The deal, completed Friday, will help businesses get high-speed Internet access.

FirstWorld Communications Inc. will install the fiber-optic lines inside an existing 10-mile loop of empty conduit pipes buried under the streets. Then it will draw lines from the pipes into the buildings.

Telephone, Internet and other data services are scheduled to be available by late spring, FirstWorld said.

Officials at the Irvine Co. declined to release details of the nonexclusive, multiyear lease.

The deal further bolsters FirstWorld’s roll-out effort in Orange County. In July, the firm began offering telephone, video and Internet services to the city of Anaheim.

The firm is leasing the city’s 50-mile fiber-optic network, built by the municipal power company, to use as the backbone for a telecommunications network that eventually will connect every business and residence in town.