Qwest Communications, Inc., has been much quieter than Verizon about its plans for building fiber-optic plant to replace the copper wires which now provide telephone and Internet service to consumers. But this week we have learned that Qwest will build out the service, and begin offering television service, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On Thursday the City Council granted Qwest a franchise to offer television service to residents in Salt Lake City. Unlike the current cable TV provider, Comcast, Qwest will not be required to build out the entire city before offering service.

Qwest had argued that to be required to offer service to the entire city would create too high a barrier to entry, but Comcast had alleged that Qwest would engage in “cherry picking,” where it offered service to the most profitable areas of the city first, as it built out the service. A Qwest spokesman called this allegation “nonsense.”

Qwest expects to offer service in parts of the city within two years.

The service would be offered over fiber-optic cable, where already built out, and via IP over copper lines where fiber is not yet available.