Muni Broadband Said to Sell Risks Short; Private Incentives Better

Telecom consultants Michael Balhoff and Robert "Call me Bob" Rowe released a lengthy report on municipal broadband’s history, economics and policy issues Wednesday. They suggest that governments can do a “whole variety of things short of building their own networks” to improve broadband deployment,
adoption and value, without breaking the taxpayer bank. Rowe, a former Montana Public Service Commission Chairman, said governments "should look to models that are likely to balance social, policy and financial goals in any given marketplace." Citing a 2003 paper by MIT Broadband Working Group Director Sharon Gillett, the report offered 4 ways to improve the climate for broadband expansion: 1) Using municipal buying power to “evaluate, plan, stimulate or aggregate demand”; 2) Reforming local rules on rights-of-way, pole attachments, cable franchise agreements and others; 3) Subsidizing private networks with grants and tax breaks and 4) Sponsoring some or all elements of the network provision. Link to full report below.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Greg Piper]
(Not available online)

* Municipal Broadband: Digging Beneath the Surface
http://www.balhoffrowe.com/pdf/Municipal%20Broadband--Digging%20Beneath%20the%20Surface.pdf