Municipal Networks

The city of Indio (CA) is planning to build its own fiber-based broadband network. In late October of 2021, the city launched its Fiber Master Plan project, with a goal of ascertaining whether the quality of life and real-world functionality of residents and businesses would be improved if the city could help provide them with high-quality, affordable and consistent broadband access. Kevin Snyder, Indio’s director of community development, is awaiting the results of a survey of Indio’s residents and businesses. “I would say that there are probably two major objectives,” Snyder said.

In the Hamilton County Schools district (which includes Chattanooga), roughly a third of the district’s 45,000 students did not have home access to stable internet. When COVID forced schools online, one in three students could not attend virtual class. Within days of COVID pushing schools to remote learning, Chattanooga leaders implemented an emergency solution: installing 98 Quick Connect hotspots providing residents with free high-speed internet.

As a cautionary tale to any city that provides broadband, incumbent internet service providers (ISPs) are always going to push back on city initiatives. In 2021, the city of Tucson (AZ) launched a free wireless network to bring broadband to students in homes without broadband. Tucson recognized the need for the network when it got requests for over 7,000 wireless access points from students during the pandemic. The city then decided that the best long-term solution to the large numbers of unserved students was to create a private network using CBRS spectrum.

The Jasper (TX) City Council voted to go forward with its plans to go into the broadband internet business. The move came following a decision earlier in 2021 to award Kramer Services Group of Weyerhaeuser (WI) $450,000 to study the issue and develop a plan for its implementation within the city. Kramer representative Brandon Wright said plans were for the system to be completely underground from one end of town to the other offering up to 1 gig of upload and download speed at prices between $75 and up depending on the speed the customer required.

Boston (MA) City Councilors held a hearing on the need for better, more equitable broadband connection citywide and improved digital equity in the city. They also discussed changes to existing federal assistance for internet access. The hearing was called due to concerns over the ability of all Boston residents, regardless of where in the city they live and how much money they make, to access reliable internet connections.

When Hillsboro (OR) officials first announced the city-owned high-speed internet service in 2019, they thought it would take about 10 years to roll out. Now they said half of all addresses in Hillsboro will have access to HiLight between 2024-25. The service first launched to about 800 neighbors about a year ago, but officials have updated their plan to expedite the process. HiLight officials plan to complete the rollout by 2027. HiLight offers city residents 1 gigabit per second for $55 per month.

While six large internet service providers (ISPs) dominate the United States fixed broadband market, Ookla's Speedtest Intelligence reveals smaller providers are sometimes the fastest ISPs in a given state in the Midwest, South and West. This analysis examines US states in which smaller ISPs were the fastest fixed broadband providers during Q3 2021. Major findings include:

Braintree Electric Light Department (BELD) — a nonprofit, publicly owned power utility and broadband internet provider — announced it has sold its internet business to Comcast. The sales price was not disclosed. BELD said the deal will have no impact on its electric division. BELD’s approximately 2,500 internet and phone customers will have their service transferred to Comcast, beginning this year. Comcast has already been an incumbent provider in Braintree (MA) for 18 years. Comcast also announced it was buying Russell Municipal Cable TV in Springfield (MA).

The broadband funding included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a good and overdue start, but more solutions must be deployed and supported if we are to solve this persistent challenge of under-connected communities. Specifically, the bipartisan infrastructure law fails to recognize the important role solutions like municipal and community networks can play in building a stronger, more resilient post-COVID economy — particularly in the hardest-hit communities, which are disproportionately low-income communities of color.

Towns in Maine are considering municipal-run networks that would reach residents who lack broadband access. At a recent Leeds (ME) town meeting, residents debated the creation of a town-run broadband network paid for through a $2.2 million bond. The Leeds broadband proposal sought a slice of the federal funds that have been flowing into the state since last year by leveraging a commitment from voters to borrow money to extend high-speed fiber to households who can’t get it, or that were unwilling to pay the thousands of dollars Spectrum, the only local provider, would charge them.