Now that both sides have given their version of events, it’s obvious that C Spire and the City of Brookhaven simply couldn’t come to terms on the company’s proposal to bring ultra-high-speed Internet to town.

And that’s a shame. C Spire’s Fiber Internet service would be a great addition to the city. It has the potential to boost economic development efforts as well as improve the quality of life of those living here. But C Spire’s offer came with a price that city leaders felt was too steep. Namely, the city didn’t like the proposed franchise agreement that would have allowed C Spire to bypass the normal permitting process to fast-track the project, among other things.

And those concerns are valid. C Spire’s proposal was designed to make sure it could justify spending millions of dollars to bring the service to Brookhaven.

At this point, it doesn’t matter who walked away from negotiations or who first initiated the talks. All that matters now is how things are handled in the future.

We hope the city hasn’t given up on C Spire, and we hope C Spire hasn’t given up on the city. Both sides seem to have gotten their egos bruised along the way, but that doesn’t mean they can’t look past that.

It doesn’t appear C Spire has closed the door on Brookhaven. But it’s also no longer knocking on Brookhaven’s door. That means city leaders will have to swallow their pride and reach out to C Spire if there’s any hope of the company coming back to the table.

Other cities have been able to negotiate with C Spire on some of the stickier points of the franchise agreement. We hope Brookhaven will consider doing the same.