Making the most of Muni broadband

The ruling in Monticello, Minn., last month that the city could build its own fiber-to-the-home link for residents set the precedent that Internet is a utility that can be provided by local communities through funding from city bonds. The ruling, coupled with forthcoming broadband stimulus funds, could kick-start a movement for more U.S. towns to copycat with their own networks. But municipal broadband analyst Craig Settles warned that it's not as simple as bringing in broadband and waiting for the revolution.

Settles said that the Internet should be treated as a utility in the sense of its importance, but similarities to other utilities like water and electricity end there. The impact of what cities could do with broadband is tremendous and, given past failures, there is a lot riding on it in rural communities. Local governments and organizations are charged with the responsibility of ensuring broadband is utilized to its full potential, Settles added.

“For example, one guy from Utah was talking about how they have the broadband but they don't have people taking advantage of it because they don't fully understand how,” he said. “What that alludes to is you have to have a certain level of an education process.”

This is a consistent theme from Utah's multicity Utopia network to Monticello to Pulaski, Tenn. Muni deployments have met with mixed success in the past, often eating up tax dollars and failing to generate consumer demand or revenue. This has some calling for a national broadband policy that will guarantee resources for computers, training and technology needs, but in the meantime, that responsibility falls to the municipality. Residents have to understand the possibilities broadband enables to develop the necessary applications and support of the service, Settles said. This means not only bringing the access, but also the hardware to low-income residents not yet part of the digital age and then training them on how to use it.

“It doesn't necessarily mean that the local government has to do all these things or if the network is being run by a public utility, the utility doesn't have to do all that, but they have to partner with those that can bring that training, facilitate the hardware delivery and make all these things possible,” Settles said. “You have to be a proactive agent in this as the local government. It requires money; it requires structure.”

Outside of non-profit organizations and private companies, service providers — although not always muni allies — are potential partners for muni deployments and education. Calix supplies FTTH equipment for broadband rollouts and facilitates muni partnerships with telcos. Of the 40 deployments in effect today, Calix has supported 11. Dave Russell, its solutions marketing director, said that in his experience, munis underestimate the level of technical experience required to deploy the network in the first place. Calix encourages them to partner with a service provider that possess these skills rather than automatically assume they have to go it alone.

“We make sure that the community who might be thinking about this — if they don't have a strong partner that is already a strong provider, they have to have an engineering staff and strong support staff on the IP side, as well as if they are offering video and telephony on the engineering side,” Russell said.

Broadband stimulus funds by themselves will be a factor in getting 80% of the network built, Settles said, but it's up to the network operator or municipality to build the other 20% and manage the network on an ongoing basis. This is a reality most don't consider, he said. “Even if you get the grant in the first place, you have to make the case for how you will sustain it,” Settles said. “The government won't give you money if you don't have a plan. They don't want to see you again.”