14 Aug 2006

Is Publicly Owned Information Infrastructure A Wise Public Investment for San Francisco?

by | Date: 14 Aug 2006 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

San Francisco has launched an initiative to provide wireless access everywhere in the city. A number of Supervisors and residents have raised the possibility of the City following in the footsteps of over 200 other U.S. cities that already own information networks.  To date, the City has not addressed that question, or at least no such study has been forthcoming.

Media Alliance invited the Institute for Local Self-Reliance to investigate the economics of a publicly owned information infrastructure. This report contains a preliminary financial analysis.  Without complete information from the City, the numbers are not precise. But we think this analysis could serve as the basis for an informed discussion. We urge the City to undertake its own more detailed examination and make it public.

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14 Jun 2006

Commons Knowledge

by | Date: 14 Jun 2006 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The first and only issue of Commons Knowledge, subtitle: Irregular Reports From the Municipal Telecom Front, featured an article about the COPE Act; a new broadband study from Saint Paul, Minnesota; and the ParkWiFi Pilot in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.

Commons Knowledge promotes publicly owned, open access broadband infrastructure and news of communities that are exploring their options in this area.

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24 Apr 2006

Wireless Philadelphia – Earthlink Contract: Highlights

by | Date: 24 Apr 2006 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Philadelphia and Earthlink have developed the first contract between a major city and a private network owner for citywide wireless. This paper presents the highlights of the Wireless Philadelphia Broadband Network Agreement between Earthlink and Wireless Philadelphia (the city government-chartered non-profit), with my comments in italics. At the end is a summary of the overall lessons cities might learn from Philadelphia’s experience.

This is not a complete representation of the contract. Rather, I have emphasized those points that have not been included in news reports but re important to other cities considering privately owned citywide wireless networks. 

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14 Apr 2006

Ownership Matters

by | Date: 14 Apr 2006 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The overwhelming majority of cities that have recently announced municipal wireless projects are planning privately owned and operated networks. Hundreds of cities are currently making decisions about the future structure of their high-speed information networks.

The speed with which this is occurring, and the knee-jerk tendency for cities to favor private ownership, demands that community groups immediately and directly challenge cities about who should own and control their future information networks. … Read More
14 Mar 2006

Publicly Owned Infrastructure Beats Regulated Net Neutrality

by | Date: 14 Mar 2006 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The media are abuzz with a new high-tech phrase:  “net neutrality”. It may sound complicated, but the concept is quite simple. Right now, the Internet treats all traffic equally. Companies that own the connections from your home and business to the Internet now want to start giving some traffic priority over others, for a fee.

Somecompare this proposal to an express toll road. Users pay extra for faster service. But Internet service subscribers already pay a monthly toll based on the speed of service.  You pay more for speeds of 3 Mbps than 750 Kbps.

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9 Jan 2006

Fiber optics and the city’s can’t-do spirit

by | Date: 9 Jan 2006 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

When the Star Tribune recently asked Bill Beck, the city’s deputy chief information officer, why Minneapolis never even considered public ownership of a proposed city-wide high-speed information network, he insisted, "The city lacks the money, competence and ability to build and manage that kind of a network right now."

That isa remarkable admission. More than 100 U.S. cities, including five in Minnesota, already have decided they were competent to build and manage high-speed information networks. Few if any regret their decisions. Most recently, St. Louis Park opted for municipal ownership. At least a half-dozen other metropolitan cities, and consortiums of cities, are seriously considering public ownership.

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1 Aug 2005

Publicly owned broadband would serve city best

by | Date: 1 Aug 2005 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

On June 27, the Supreme Court ruled that cable companies have the sole authority to decide who may use their high-speed communications networks. They can decide what information to transmit, and what information they will refuse to transmit.

The decision clears the way for the FCC to allow phone companies to monopolize their own information highways. And it underscores the need for communities to build their own information infrastructure.

Both cable and phone companies want to sign up as many Internet subscribers as possible because in the near future, phone, television and Internet will all be offered through the same broadband connection. … Read More

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