"Municipal Broadband Saved My City"

Today's Washington Internet Daily (not available online) has a story reporting on a Center for American Progress discussion about municipal broadband.  A mayor of a small (6000 people) town in Indiana said that his town had 25% unemployment and incredibly high costs for business internet connections (try $1350/month for a T1 line). 

After [the town] began a limited but effective municipal broadband program, businesses decided to stay, and some even moved in, [the mayor] said. The network has expanded and covers parts of 7 counties, and is still “growing like crazy,” he said.

Now, the next question is:  will the municipality be able to provide truly highspeed broadband capabilities?  And the question after that is:  what if the municipality decides it doesn't want to carry certain content on its networks?

But the key inquiry is “compared to what.”  If the municipality hadn't done this for itself, it would still be waiting for an incumbent to deign to provide it service. 

February 11, 2006 | Filed Under main page 

Comments

2 Responses to “"Municipal Broadband Saved My City"”

  1. Anonymous on February 15th, 2006 6:38 am

    “Today's Washington Internet Daily (not available online)…”
    And there are still some people here in the UK who think that America doesnt do irony :-)

  2. Anonymous on February 15th, 2006 4:10 pm

    aww
    we can do “dry” but often our compatriots don't notice

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