Re: Muni Fiber and Politics

[Miles Fidelman <mfidelman () meetinghouse net>]

Well yeah, the LECs would definitely come unglued.

But... first off, what do you mean by "free?"  Someone has to pay the 
capital and operating budgets - so if not from user fees, then from taxes.

So.. it's a nice thought, but not likely to happen.  Heck, have you ever 
seen a water utility that doesn't charge?

Now... having said that -- I could see something like this happen in 
California:

- California allows (maybe requires) that developers pay "impact fees" 
when building new houses -- i.e., the cost of a house, in a new 
development, may include $20,000+ to pay for new infrastructure - roads, 
waterworks, police and fire substations, schools, you name it - if you 
buy a new house, you pay for the full cost of the infrastructure behind 
it (built into the financing of course - first the construction 
financing, then the bridge financing, then ultimately the mortgage)

- I have seen some California communities at least toy with including 
conduit and fiber in master plans and requirements placed on developers 
- after all, it's needed to feed municipal buildings, street light 
control, and so forth - and better to have common-user conduit and fiber 
in the ground than have multiple people digging up the streets later - 
fyi: a street cut typically takes 1 year off pavement lifetime, unless 
very carefully repaved - practically nobody does a good job of 
permitting street cuts to avoid this - San Antonio being a really 
notable exception (I worked for a GIS firm that built their right-of-way 
management system - they were a real rarity in good right-of-way 
management practices)

- so I could see building the capital cost of a FTTH network into new 
housing (the same way water and phone wiring is standard) - but that's 
not free, and that still begs the question of who lights the fiber

- still, the LECs would come unglued (and have)!

Miles Fidelman


Aaron wrote:
> So let me throw out a purely hypothetical scenario to the collective:
>
> What do you think the consequences to a municipality would be if they 
> laid fiber to every house in the city and gave away internet access 
> for free?  Not the WiFi builds we have today but FTTH at gigabit 
> speeds for free?
>
> Do you think the LECs would come unglued?
>
> Aaron
>
>
> On 7/21/2014 8:33 PM, Miles Fidelman wrote:
> > I've seen various communities attempt to hand out free wifi - usually 
> > in limited areas, but in some cases community-wide (Brookline, MA 
> > comes to mind).  The limited ones (e.g., in tourist hotspots) have 
> > been city funded, or donated. The community-wide ones, that I've 
> > seen, have been public-private partnerships - the City provides space 
> > on light poles and such - the private firm provides limited access, 
> > in hopes of selling expanded service.  I haven't seen it work 
> > successfully - 4G cell service beats the heck out of WiFi as a 
> > metropolitan area service.
> >
> > When it comes to municipal fiber and triple-play projects, I've 
> > generally seen them capitalized with revenue bonds -- hence, a need 
> > for revenue to pay of the financing.  Lower cost than commercial 
> > services because municipal bonds are low-interest, long-term, and 
> > they operate on a cost-recovery basis.
> >
> > Miles Fidelman
> >
> > Aaron wrote:
> > > Do you have an example of a municipality that gives free internet 
> > > access to it's residents?
> > >
> > >
> > > On 7/21/2014 2:26 PM, Matthew Kaufman wrote:
> > > > I think the difference is when the municipality starts throwing in 
> > > > free or highly subsidized layer 3 connectivity "free with every 
> > > > layer 1 connection"
> > > >
> > > > Matthew Kaufman
> > > >
> > > > (Sent from my iPhone)
> > > >
> > > > > On Jul 21, 2014, at 12:08 PM, Blake Dunlap <ikiris () gmail com> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > My power is pretty much always on, my water is pretty much always on
> > > > > and safe, my sewer system works, etc etc...
> > > > >
> > > > > Why is layer 1 internet magically different from every other utility?
> > > > >
> > > > > -Blake
> > > > >
> > > > > > On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 1:38 PM, William Herrin <bill () herrin us> 
> > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > > On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 10:20 AM, Jay Ashworth <jra () baylink com> 
> > > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > > Over the last decade, 19 states have made it illegal for 
> > > > > > > municipalities
> > > > > > > to own fiber networks
> > > > > > Hi Jay,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Everything government does, it does badly. Without exception. There
> > > > > > are many things government does better than any private organization
> > > > > > is likely to sustain, but even those things it does slowly and at an
> > > > > > exorbitant price.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Muni fiber is a competition killer. You can't beat city hall; once
> > > > > > built it's not practical to compete, even with better service, so
> > > > > > residents are stuck with only the overpriced (either directly or via
> > > > > > taxes), usually underpowered and always one-size-fits-all network
> > > > > > access which results. As an ISP I watched something similar 
> > > > > > happen in
> > > > > > Altoona PA a decade and a half ago. It was a travesty.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The only exception I see to this would be if localities were
> > > > > > constrained to providing point to point and point to multipoint
> > > > > > communications infrastructure within the locality on a reasonable 
> > > > > > and
> > > > > > non-discriminatory basis. The competition that would foster on the
> > > > > > services side might outweigh the damage on the infrastructure side.
> > > > > > Like public roads facilitate efficient transportation and freight
> > > > > > despite the cost and potholes, though that's an imperfect simile.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Regards,
> > > > > > Bill Herrin
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > William Herrin ................ herrin () dirtside com bill () herrin us
> > > > > > Owner, Dirtside Systems ......... Web: <http://www.dirtside.com/>
> > > > > > Can I solve your unusual networking challenges?


--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.   .... Yogi Berra