Municipal Networks

Holland (MI) is getting a citywide high-speed internet network that will be funded by taxpayer dollars after voters approved a $30 million ballot proposal in the city's election. The city of Holland asked voters on August 2, to approve a municipal fiber optic internet network that would provide fast and affordable internet across the city, and would be paid for and maintained through public funds.

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) from broadband network operators to operate, manage, market, maintain and extend the current approximately 1,100 mile MassBroadband 123 Network. The MassTech Network is a state-owned, open-access, carrier-grade, middle-mile telecommunications network that became operational in early 2014. The network consists of 952 miles of constructed fiber, 192 miles of leased fiber, and strand counts on the backbone that vary between 72 and 288 strands.

In eastern Idaho, two relatively small towns, Idaho Falls (population 62,000) and Ammon (16,000) have begun treating broadband as an essential service. These fairly conservative communities offer residents access to lightning-fast internet at low cost. They rely on variations of the same theme to achieve these results: public network ownership. It’s a model that’s gaining steam nationwide, with Detroit (MI) set to begin construction on a $10 million network explicitly modeled after the one engineered in tiny Ammon.

Bloomington (IN) took final steps to solidify its agreement for city-wide, high-speed internet. Paris-based Meridiam will now be able to build a fiber optic network to at least 85 percent of residents within three years. The city’s redevelopment commission passed a resolution to appropriate funds generated by Meridiam’s new tax increment finance (TIF) district. Meridiam will invest $50 million in the network but receive almost $11 million in tax breaks through the TIF over 20 years. Under French law, Meridiam is a benefit corporation.

Telecom giant Charter Communications, known to many as Spectrum, does not like the City of Brownsville (TX)'s new multi-million broadband network project. That was made clear by Todd Baxter, Charter’s group vice president for state government affairs. When asked about how he thinks the state of Texas should get fully wired -- and whether it was the job of the private sector, public-private partnerships, municipal broadband or a combination -- Baxter said, "Brownsville is very well served and ubiquitously served by the private sector right now.

Southport (ME) voters have estimates on how much it will cost to build their own broadband network or connect underserved residents. They do not know exactly how much has been spent to rally opposition against it. It is an example of how big-campaign tactics are coming to smaller communities that are looking to develop their own broadband systems. The archipelago town of just 600 people off Boothbay Harbor (ME) has seen mailers and digital ads linked to the incumbent internet provider and allies. Spending on the issue does not have to be disclosed because of a campaign finance loophole.

Several new items of legislation to create Summit Connects, a high-speed broadband public safety network, were introduced at the June 13 Summit County (OH) Council meeting. According to county officials, the network will initially consist of a 125-mile fiber optic cable ring connecting Summit County and its 31 city, village and township governments to gigabit-speed internet service and a data center to be operated by the City of Fairlawn.

David Finn of Google Fiber outlined the company’s embrace of the open access model for broadband. Finn, a director of corporate development at Google Fiber, highlighted the company’s recent open access partnership in West Des Moines (IA) and a previous example with the public utility in Huntsville (AL) as examples of how they are using the model to expand broadband access. Google Fiber is now finalizing a similar partnership in Vermont that could potentially reach over 100 thousand rural residents.

After years of planning, the Port of Columbia is in the final stages of bringing broadband internet to households in Dayton and the surrounding areas of Columbia County (WA). Once the network is complete, every household in the Dayton city limits with have access to the paid service by early 2023. “We will be able to extend out about three miles from the city of Dayton to the outer parts of the town,” Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson said.

Baltimore has an audacious goal to build a city-owned broadband service that could give its poorest residents equal access to digital resources for education, medical services and jobs. The plan lands the port city an hour from the nation’s capital squarely in the middle of a national debate over who deserves a chunk of the $95 billion in federal funding Congress allocated to close the digital divide. It also pits local officials against Comcast, the cable giant that already serves the city. “Access is too important to leave to the market and private actors.