Building Gigabit Networks Three Powerful New Financing Models in Utah Mississippi And Texas

As communities across the country consider ways to build Gigabit Networks, a range of public- and private-financing models are now being considered in geographies as diverse as the Wasatch Front in Utah, rural Mississippi; and College Station, Texas.

Three separate financial models were explored in early April at the Broadband Communities Summit in Austin, during a panel on “Public-Private Partnerships for Economic Development.”

The first model, in Utah, involves a private company -- Macquarie Capital -- entering into partnership with the public sector to complete a fiber build worth more than $300 million.

In Mississippi, network builder C Spire Fiber put out a “reverse Request for Proposals” in an effort to incent Mississippi communities to invest in fiber.

In the third example, in College Station, Texas, a technology entrepreneur and city council member discussed his efforts to bring Gigabit Networks to the hometown of Texas A&M University.