Community Broadband

If you talk to the phone or cable company Community Broadband -- a city or town that operates their own internet and telephone services-- is an evil word. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, you would think public competition would be welcomed but sadly this is not the case.  Around the USA and the world, Community Broadband is becoming a big issue.

In many communities around the United States, limited internet access or low internet speeds has forced them to look at running their own fiber optics networks. They can provide internet and phone services just like any other city run services like water and garbage, it’s a standard utility. In most cases the incumbent Telecom -- AT&T or Verizon and the cable company -- Comcast or Time Warner have not welcomed the competition.





During the Bush years the FCC and the federal government backed a internet duopoly -- 2 company monopoly. In a blog post, Dan Jaspers said "This concreted our unique US duopoly: cable versus Telco, the two broadband choices that most Americans have today. In exchange for a truly competitive market, the US received promises of widespread deployment. And, to some degree this has worked. Unfettered by significant competition or price pressure, broadband in at least its most basic form can now be delivered to most homes in America, albeit at a comparatively high cost to the consumer."

This is in part why we have dropped to 15^th place for highest internet price and lowest speeds worldwide. Most places in the US get the internet, but when compared to Europe and Asia we lag behind. "In Asia and Europe, Gigabit services are becoming common, and the price paid by consumers per megabit is a tiny fraction of what we pay here at home." Dan Jasper.

This is what happened in Lafayette, LA. The city residents wanted to get better internet speeds but Cox Cable and AT&T said that their community was too small. They said that upgrades to their networks would happen in other places in the state first, and it would be years before they would get around to Lafayette.


So the city passed a bond and told the Lafayette City Power and Water Department to run fiber to all residents. In fact Lafayette City Power and Water Department was started more than 70 years ago because big power and water companies told the city that they were too small to bother with. The city would provide internet at speeds 10 times that of the cable company, telephone and TV services for a faction of the cost. Soon after, the Cox cable and AT&T fought back.

They sued the city to block the building of the network on the grounds that it was unfair for them to compete with a government provider.  Then they went to the state government to try to pass laws that would prohibit any city from providing phone or internet services in the whole state. This is not a new strategy. Telcos in more than 10 different states have tried to make it illegal for communities to run their own networks.

After 3 years of legal battles and a smear campaign, the networks started to be built last year. To no one’s surprise residents flocked to the new network from AT&T and Cox cable. To counter this AT&T and Cox cable there were forced to upgrade their networks and drop their prices.

Community Broadband is not new, here in the Bay Area San Bruno has operated its own cable company since the late ‘80s.  The city residents passed a bond to fund the building of the cable network after the large cable companies passed on building in the city or proposed high monthly fee to provide services. San Bruno Cable operates at a profit to the city budget and pays for all system upgrades.  They have expanded their services from just TV cable to now include internet and phone services.

In Europe they have a different view of Community Broadband. Back in 2008, the European Union ruled that a city's involvement in Community Broadband projects were legal, and that it did not interfere in the broadband market. Herman Wagter over at arstechnica.com has a great article on how Amsterdam is rolling out fiber to the whole city. 

"The city of Amsterdam has been involved for several years in building Citynet, a partnership between the city and two private investors to wire 40,000 Amsterdam buildings with fiber. And it's not just fiber, it's open access fiber—any ISP can sign up to use the infrastructure and deliver ultra-fast Internet access."

In Amsterdam the city runs fiber but doesn’t provide consumer services.  The network is open access-- any company may rent space to provide services to consumers. This has led to a very competitive market with a half dozen companies for resident to choose from.  Another side affect is the prices have been steadily following. In a city with highly packed apartments, small streets, canals and house boats—all these places need fiber run to them.


For more click on the video.

Telcom books

In writting this digital blog I have actually have been couple to read some physically books on the history of the internet and Telecom industry.

The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires

The best book on the history of AT&T and the US Telcom industry.  The book goes on to great depth on the history of the communication empires of telephone, radio, television, and now the internet. Not a light reading book, but if you like to know how many of the giant communication companies got their start, this is the book. How did AT&T go from one of many independent phone companies to the only one is the US?  How did Bell lab discover the transistor unix and help the arms race?

Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist

The $750 billion telecom bubble of the 1990's and 2000's was bigger then the dot.com bubble.  It invovled the WorldCom, Global Crossing, NorthPoint Communications, and others.  WorldCom and Global Crossing, was later found practicing illegal accounting practices to pump up profits for Wall Street. WorldCom's and Global Crossingstock price fell drastically when this information went public, and it eventually filed the third-largest and fourth corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. the crash put America back in the broadband race for years to come.

A Phone of Our Own: The Deaf Insurrection Against Ma Bell

This book details the struggles that deaf people have trying to find  a way to communicate.  Since the invention of the telephone, communication technology has been leaving the hearing impaired behind.  The book tells the  story of  the battle between AT&T, the government and a small group of people who were striving to find a way to communicate with each other and with the hearing world. It describes the use of the first computer, computer modems and wireless mores code to form the first TTY systems-- Teletypewriter. It is ironic that Alexander Graham Bell was attempting to find a way to assist his own wife that was deaf when he developed the phone by chance, yet his invention became the bane of the deaf peoples' existence around the world.