How Maine Saved the Internet

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[Commentary] The town of Rockport (ME) opened its own gigabit-scale municipal fiber optic network -- meaning it can transmit a thousand megabits of data a second. It is the first such network in Maine.

Most importantly, the Rockport network provides a replicable model for towns and cities across the country. Rockport's town-owned gigabit network doesn't directly serve subscribers, which means Rockport isn't competing in the private market. Instead, the town is making its network -- made up of so-called dark fiber, which carries a potentially unlimited amount of communications data -- available to any private service provider.

Creating jobs and competing with other countries depend on ubiquitous, inexpensive fiber connectivity, so we need all the help we can get.

[Crawford is John A. Reilly visiting professor in intellectual property at Harvard Law School]


How Maine Saved the Internet