July 2021

‘Welcome to the Mesh, Brother’: Guerrilla Wi-Fi Comes to New York

In New York, like most big cities, the wealthier a neighborhood is, the more options for internet service its residents probably have — and the more incentive for providers in those areas to compete on service and price. On some blocks on the Upper West Side, residents can choose among four carriers. In Brownsville, customers can choose between Altice or Optimum — which is owned by Altice. Verizon’s fiber-optic service, Fios, is supposed to be available on every city block, which in theory would spur more competition, but that has yet to happen.

Open access municipal networks are an answer to the nation’s broadband problem

It is critical that the truth about open-access municipal broadband networks be told: They work; they are successful; they spur competition; they are closing the digital divide. They also are an irritant to big cable and its allies, whose henchmen have been busy at work in a well-financed lobbying campaign. Municipal fiber is hugely successful in Utah, even in his own district. In fact, Utah, one of the most politically conservative states in the nation, has more municipal broadband networks than elsewhere in the US.