Why Is Mighty Time Warner So Scared of Tiny Salisbury, NC?

[Commentary] Conservatives would have us believe the public sector can't compete with the private sector. The private sector itself knows better. Nowhere is this more evident than in the telecommunications sector.

People hate their telecommunications companies. The poster child for poor customer service in the public sector may be the Department of Motor Vehicle Bureau, but its unresponsiveness and arrogance pales into insignificance to those of Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and AT&T. Cities now view high speed broadband networks as essential infrastructure like water, sewer, and roads. The increased importance of high speed broadband in everything from business to education to entertainment coupled with soaring prices, slow speeds and bad service from private providers finally led cities to take matters into their own hands and build their own broadband networks. Today, over 54 cities own citywide fiber networks. When a public network opens for business, a town finally experiences effective competition, and it shows.

[Morris is the Director of the New Rules Project]