What will voters say?

There are times when one person, one town or one state becomes the focal point of a much broader issue, often for reasons that are not all that apparent.

Lafayette, La., has become a focal point of municipal broadband advocates, and as its July 16 referendum draws closer, we can all expect a flurry of activity on both sides of the issue.

Lafayette voters will be deciding whether they think the Lafayette Utility System should build a fiber-to-the-home network in their community. Ordinarily, I'd think it would be hard to get many people to turn out in mid-summer to vote on an issue as arcane as whether a publicly owned utility company should get into the telecom infrastructure business.

But emotions are running high right now, at least among those who know to care. While many other municipalities have faced similar votes, the growing momentum behind the municipal movement is making the Lafayette vote seem particularly important.

Lafayette voters are already being inundated. On the one side, Louisiana politicians including Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Mayor Joey Durel, are staunchly on the side of LUS. On the other, both BellSouth and Cox Communications are working hard to convince local voters it's financially foolish to build an FTTH network that is own by a publicly funded utility.

The latest round in the ongoing fight came this week as the Heartland Institute released a study saying that LUS was seriously underestimating the ongoing marketing costs of operating a broadband network, including buying video content and marketing to customers in competition with Cox, BellSouth, DirecTV and Dish Network.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have to say the Heartland study was written by Steven Titch, a former journalistic colleague of mine, and he firmly maintains it is an open and objective report.

I've been warned, however, by the pro-municipal forces, to expect a full rebuttal, so I'll stay tuned and so should you.

In the meantime, the battle for the hearts and minds of Lafayette residents continues, as we watch in fascination. I doubt any one group of citizens has been as exposed to the issues surrounding municipal broadband as the citizens of Lafayette, and I, for one, am anxious to see how they respond.

E-mail me at CWilson3@primediabusiness.com.