Municipal Broadband: A Bad Deal For Taxpayers

[Commentary] The inherent problem with municipal broadband is that government entities are incapable of fairly competing in the free market, as they are taxpayer-backed and therefore able to charge less for a service than it actually costs.

Private businesses cannot do this, as doing so would result in bankruptcy. The costs of building out and maintaining broadband networks are considerable. It is not a fiscally sound use of scarce taxpayer dollars for governments to compete with billion dollar networks already in existence. State legislators have the right and responsibility to protect economic and fiscal interests of their constituents. The concern that municipal broadband puts a risky and unsustainable burden on the backs of taxpayers is justified based on experience.

[Gleason is Director of State Affairs at Americans for Tax Reform]