Consultant recommends Columbia offer open-access broadband

Magellan Advisors LLC, a Denver (CO)-based telecom consulting firm hired by Columbia (MO) to study broadband service in the area, says Columbia and Boone County might be more successful at attracting tech-savvy residents and businesses if better broadband infrastructure were in place, possibly achieved by improving the Columbia Water and Light Department’s existing fiber-optic network.

Magellan Advisors recommends that Water and Light convert its existing broadband infrastructure into an open-access, or “lit,” network, which would increase the availability and affordability of broadband service in the city and offer a new communications platform for the city government.