Anti-Muni Network Groups Respond to Obama’s Advocacy

President Barack Obama’s recent comments advocating municipal broadband networks have drawn a variety of rebuttals from groups such as the Phoenix Center, TechFreedom and Media Freedom. Perhaps the most vehement critique came from Media Freedom, which argued that “the bullies at the White House and the Federal Communications Commission will not stop until they have taken all of our lunch money.”

In response to claims from The Phoenix Center, Christopher Mitchell, director of community broadband networks at the Institute for Self-Reliance, accused the Phoenix Center of being a “mouthpiece of the cable and telephone industry.” Mitchell said it was inaccurate to say the Chattanooga (TN) network was built with “government money” but instead was built largely with bond funding sold to private investors. He also argued that Chattanooga ratepayers would be paying more for electricity had the utility not built the fiber network and also offered telecommunications services.