Mayor Mike McGinn, left, and former mayor Charles Royer at press conference Monday. (Jen Nance)

The city of Seattle is contributing to high-speed broadband service in a part of Pioneer Square by installing conduit through which Internet providers can run fiber-optic cable.

Yesterday, Mayor Mike McGinn announced a plan to bring fiber-optic Internet service -- which is 100 times faster than what is currently available -- to four blocks of First Avenue South between Cherry and South Jackson, reports Crosscut.com.

"It's the next-generation infrastructure that our businesses need to succeed," McGinn said at a press conference. "The challenge is we're falling behind other cities."

The city has purchased the conduit and is in the process of installing it along the streets of Pioneer Square. McGinn said the city will lease the conduit space to Internet service providers, which can pull fiber-optic cable through the pipes and connect businesses and homes in the area.

McGinn said that, if no Internet providers come forward to "take advantage" of the new conduit, the city will look into installing the cable on its own. The $60,000 project was first announced in February and has been paid for out of an allotted budget.

Pioneer Square has attracted many high-tech companies recently and McGinn wants to ensure that the area remains attractive to those companies. He said the new installation is a "small, tangible" step toward this goal.

“What we are able to get in Pioneer Square right now is about half the speed of what you’d be able to get in your home,” said Jeff Strain, founder of Undead Labs, a game development company housed in Pioneer Square. “Fiber internet is essential in order for us to keep our company here.”

McGinn made broadband expansion part of his campaign in 2009, and said he hopes the Pioneer Square project will be the first of many such installations around the city.

McGinn estimates that fiber broadband service should be available to customers along First Avenue by the end of September.