Edmonds is becoming a fiber-optic hot bed.

Fiber-optic cables are able to transmit more Internet data, more phone calls and potentially more high-definition television shows than any other technology available.

And, while Edmonds city officials are excited about their plans to develop a nearly unparalleled public fiber-optic network inside city limits, Verizon is busily extending its private fiber-optic network to homes throughout the city.

Verizon’s effort isn’t only local. It plans to spend $23 billion in 16 states by 2010 as it builds its fiber-optic network, the company said.

In Edmonds, the network will pass more than 2,000 Edmonds homes by the end of 2007, mostly north of Main Street and 212th Street, spokesman Kevin Laverty said.

Although the company couldn’t say if any Edmonds residents have signed up to the new service, Verizon is planning to continue working in the city until 2009, Laverty said.

Only Internet and phone services are being offered in Edmonds, but the company hopes to eventually offer TV services, too, he said.

Fiber-optic is the quickest possible way for consumers to connect to the Internet.

Verizon believes its fiber-optic network is nearly future proof, Laverty said.

“Ultimately, for consumers, there will be nearly unlimited bandwidth,” he said.

Verizon’s cables run both underneath the city, and on telephone poles above it.

This week, the company had fiber technicians working near Edmonds’ Five Corners neighborhood. They were splitting a cable from a massive fiber-optic pipeline with about 360 fibers – with each fiber capable of supplying roughly 32 homes with Internet and phone services – into smaller ribbons to serve neighborhood homes.

Verizon’s plans do not offer any conflict for the city of Edmonds, officials said.

While Verizon is selling its service to consumers, the city is focused on selling its bandwidth to organizations like the Edmonds School District, Mayor Gary Haakenson said.

Around the country, large telecommunication firms have sued local governments when the private companies thought the government was competing where it shouldn’t.

Edmonds hopes that will not be an issue here, he said.

“We do not really see ourselves in competition with Verizon or Comcast, and I am sure that they do not see us as competition, either,” he said.

Last week, in fact, the Edmonds School District board agreed to purchase bandwidth from the city, Haakenson said.

The city is still developing its business plan, though.

It is likely the city will also use its broadband capacity to improve government efficiency, Haakenson said.