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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
The Institute For Local Self Reliance (disclosure: I have done writing and research for them) has released an updated interactive map of every community-owned and operated broadband network in the U.S.
All told, there’s now 400 community-owned broadband networks serving more than 700 U.S. towns and cities nationwide, and the pace of growth shows no sign of slowing down.
Some of these networks are directly owned by a municipality. Some are freshly-built cooperatives. Some are extensions of the existing city-owned electrical utility. All of them are an organic, popular, grass-roots community-driven reaction to telecom market failure and expensive, patchy access.
[...] Data routinely notes that community-owned broadband networks provide faster, cheaper, better service than their larger private-sector counterparts. Staffed by locals, they’re also more directly accountable and responsive to the needs of locals. They’re also just hugely popular across the partisan spectrum; routinely winning awards for service.
[...] That’s not to suggest community-owned broadband networks are some mystical panacea; they require smart leadership, strategic planning, and intelligent financing. But if done well, they not only drive significant fiber improvements directly to local markets, they incentivize lumbering regional private sector monopolies — long pampered by federal government corruption and muted competition — to actually try.
Widespread frustration with substandard U.S. broadband drove a big boost in such networks during COVID lockdowns. Since January 1, 2021, more than 47 new networks have come online, with dozens in the planning or pre-construction phases. Many are seeing a big financial boost thanks to 2021 COVID relief (ARPA) and infrastructure bill (IIJA) legislation funding (the latter of which hasn’t even arrived yet).
In response to this popular grass roots movement, giant ISPs have worked tirelessly to outlaw such efforts, regardless of voter intent. 16 states still have protectionist state laws, usually ghost written by giant telecom monopolies, prohibiting the construction or expansion of community broadband. House Republicans went so far as to try and ban all community broadband during a pandemic.
Lumbering regional monopolies like Comcast, AT&T, and Charter could have responded to this movement by lowering prices and improving service. Instead in many cases they found it cheaper to lobby politicians, sue fledgling networks, or create fake “consumer groups” tasked with spreading lies about the perils of community-owned broadband networks among local communities.
But based on the growth rate of such networks, these efforts have backfired, and locally-owned and operated broadband networks appear to be more popular than ever.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 08, @09:38AM (1 child)
I think that stormreaver is alluding to some of the arguments that have been made in court, opposing municipal services. The telcos have argued for years, often successfully, that state constitutions and laws in various states forbid government competition with private enterprise. I have always thought those arguments were lame, but time and time again, the telcos walked away with a win. And every time a judge decided such a case in the telco's favor, Americans lost. I think that those court decisions pressured congress into channeling yet more money into the telcos, for the purpose of building out that mythical 'last mile', that the telcos never built. I think all SN members have bemoaned the billions after billions shoveled into telco coffers over the years, with billions of nothings to show for the money.
It has taken over 20 years for congress to actually come up with a workable method of channeling money away from the telcos, into the hands of entities willing to build out the infrastructure.
In my case, in southwest Arkansas, it's not a municipality that finally brought me broadband. Instead, the electric coop applied for, and won, one of those government grants to build out the infrastructure. None of the telcos ever made a move to bring broadband internet to this part of the country. The electric company did it. I would have been just as happy if the state did it, or the county governments, or a grass roots movement of private citizens. Someone needed to do it, and the telcos simply refused, even after being paid multiple times.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Wednesday October 09, @08:29PM
Not surprising, as the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) was instrumental in connecting rural areas with electric service back in the day via electric co-ops. No reason it can't be done the same way with internet.
Interestingly enough, an electric co-op is a type of socialist construct, as in that the means of production is owned by the community served by it. If capitalists won't do it, who will? These co-ops did it with electric, they can do it again with internet.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.