Comcast rejected by small town, residents vote for municipal fiber instead

Re:Comcast rejected by small town, residents vote for munici... by AnthonyMouse on Wednesday December 12, 2018 @10:57AM (#18664929)

> We have some towns on the eastern shore of MD that did municipal cable, back when that was the state of the art. Those systems are lagging far behind Comcast now because nobody wants to raise rates to generate cash for upgrades.

It seems like the best solution would be to do both. Have a municipal network that serves everybody so that you don't need build out requirements for anyone else, then stop having them.

Then if the municipal network is not providing competitive price/performance in a particular area, other small providers can spring up. Meanwhile if you're in a farmhouse in the countryside, your options will be slower and more expensive than someone in a skyscraper in the city, but you'll still be guaranteed to at least have one.

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Re:Comcast rejected by small town, residents vote for munici... by rayiner on Wednesday December 12, 2018 @11:21AM (#18665168)

I think it's important to have internet access as a safety net, but building a whole municipal network for that seems like a waste of public money. It would be much cheaper to subsidize commercial 5G service for those folks who can't get wired broadband.

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Re:Comcast rejected by small town, residents vote for munici... by AnthonyMouse on Wednesday December 12, 2018 @11:48AM (#18665406)

There isn't any reason a municipal network couldn't reach rural customers using wireless.

The trouble with subsidies is, what happens if there is nothing to subsidize? In sufficiently rural areas there may be zero existing providers, and still be zero providers even if you offer a modest subsidy. But if you offer a large subsidy then the costs quickly get out of control as less rural areas that needed some but not that much end up claiming more subsidy than was actually necessary, and regulatory capture encourages the government to shovel more public money to private providers.

You also have trouble with suburban areas that can justify fiber but not twice. If there is only going to be one provider with no competition, better the municipality than Comcast.

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