ITIF municipal broadband debate reveals strong passions on both sides

Of all the policy topics in telecom, few are debated with as much passion as municipal broadband networks -- and an event sponsored by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation June 1 was a prime example of that dynamic in play.

Using the sort of formal debate process that many of us learned in high school, advocates and opponents discussed the thesis that “Governments should neither subsidize nor operate broadband networks to compete with commercial ones.” Jeffrey Eisenach, managing director and principal of Navigent Economics, supported that view. When a municipality passes legislation to fund a broadband project, it is essentially “coercing people to give up money, many of whom don't want to do it,” Eisenach said. Christopher Mitchell, director of telecommunications for the Institute for Self Reliance, countered that argument, noting that municipalities typically obtain funding through bonds. If local officials raise taxes to fund a broadband network without sufficient support, he said, they will lose their jobs when the next election comes around.