SofC - Broadband
From:
Christopher Mitchell
Date:
Mar 25 18:10 UTC
Short link
> Basically, "............ momentum has sputtered to a standstill,
> tripped up by unrealistic ambitions and technological glitches. The
> conclusion that such ventures would not be profitable led to sudden
> withdrawals by service providers like EarthLink, the Internet company
> that had effectively cornered the market on the efforts by the larger
> cities."
>
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/22wireless.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=community+internet+service&st=nyt&oref=slogin
Jan - thank you for bringing that up. The network I have in mind would
be fiber-optic based rather than wireless. Wireless could be a part of
it, but not in the way that other cities have depended on companies like
Earthlink to do it.
As for whether it would work, St. Paul would need to consider what it
could get out of the network (increased efficiency for mobile gov't
workers, police officers) before deciding it the investment were worth it.
> Whether or not cities should step in to make the considerable investment
> required to either build or subsidize a wi-fi system is going to be a
> contentious issue.
Always - and as it should be =)
Building a fiber network would be more expensive and much more
contentious. However, I think it makes the most sense for the City to
first build a network that would solve government and schooling needs
within the city.
Currently the City gets most of its connectivity from Comcast in the
form of an Institutional Network from its franchise agreement. This
network, once state-of-the-art, no longer meets the City's needs. In 5
years, the franchise expires. Few expect cable companies to continue
providing these services to cities - new contracts tend to be structured
differently.
So St. Paul will soon need to figure out how to meet its connectivity
needs. I believe the City should do what any massive institution would
do (and what large companies do) - build its own fiber network to
connect its buildings. Despite the high upfront costs, it makes more
sense than leasing indefinitely.
...
In response to John Harris' excellent points regarding the other things
that need to be done in order to deal with the digital divide - such as
getting computers into homes and making sure they keep working - there
are groups working on those issues now and the problem certainly will
not go away. There are many issues here but I believe a serious
discussion about building a network is a good first step.