Fiber networks have brought enormous benefits to communities where they’re deployed. Learn more about fiber networks and gigabit connectivity.
Isn’t our broadband (where it is even available) “good enough?” Shouldn’t we just be thankful, “We have what we have? Who would even need Gig (1000 Mbps) anyway?”
These are all legitimate questions, but if you start looking at areas where fiber networks have been deployed, you’ll find that they have brought enormous benefit to those communities. There are at least two larger communities (and other smaller ones) in Mendocino that are interested in a fiber network: Ukiah and Fort Bragg. If you would like to lend your energy to help these ideas become reality, please contact us.
In the meantime, please learn more about the “whys” and “hows” of fiber networks. There is a ton of information out there, and below are some videos which are very good!
- Why Ammon Idaho is a model for improving Broadband Access
- Sandy, Oregon
- What will Nevada County, CA look like in 2025 with a Gigabit Fiber Network in Place?
- When Gigabit Internet Comes to Town, It Could Mean Savings for Consumers
- New York, Bringing Broadband to Everyone by 2018 (The New York Times)
- A Local Approach to Broadband (and How to Pay for the Last Mile)
- Correcting Community Fiber Fallacies (Taxpayers Protection Alliance Edition, May 2017)
- Benefits of Broadband (Communication Workers of America)
- A Consumer Federation of America Report that highlights market pricing abuses
Fort Bragg Tech Committee
The City of Fort Bragg has formed a new Tech Committee in an effort to make itself a “tech-friendly city.” Their mission statement is “Economic Development through enhanced Technology.” You can read their press release here. Goals include to improve the fiber infrastructure, partner with local schools on educational opportunities, and to expand the downtown Wi-fi.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
Local governments increasingly see before them exciting new opportunities to develop next-generation broadband in their communities—and to reap the many benefits that broadband will deliver to their residents and businesses. Many localities are likely aware of Google Fiber and municipal fiber success stories—but emerging public–private partnership models present an alternative for the many communities that lack the capital or expertise to deploy and operate fiber networks, or to act as Internet service providers (ISP), on their own. These models include:
- Private investment, public facilitation (Model 1) (M – The model focuses not on a public sector investment, but on modest measures the public sector can take to enable or encourage greater private sector investment. Google Fiber is the most prominent example, but there is significant interest among smaller companies such as Ting Internet.
- Private execution, public funding (Model 2) – This model, which involves a substantial amount of public investment, is a variation on the traditional municipal ownership model for broadband infrastructure— but with private rather than public sector execution. The model removes significant logistical barriers from large-scale public broadband projects. While the field is constantly changing, at least three companies have emerged with fully articulated business propositions for localities.
- Shared investment and risk (Model 3) – In this model, localities and private partners find creative ways to share the capital, operating, and maintenance costs of a broadband network. The City of Westminster, Maryland, partnered with Ting Internet in the most prominent example of this approach. (The City of Santa Cruz, California, has replicated the Westminster model, and we expect other communities to do the same.)
You can learn a lot more about PPP’s (also called “P3s”) below:
