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Viewing report
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Guide to Municipal Broadband Network Projects
Pioneer Consulting, Oct 2006, Pages: 214
The issue of the “Digital Divide” has arisen as the Internet has rapidly spread throughout the world and the benefits of being connected to the Worldwide Web have become more apparent. In more developed markets, this issue has been given a new dimension by the arrival of broadband connectivity, offering users a much-enhanced browsing experience. However, for a number of reasons, the availability of broadband in these markets is by no means ubiquitous. In municipalities where economics, demographics, or topology have discouraged the traditional providers of Internet services from investing in broadband, constituents have begun to lobby their politicians for access to what is quickly becoming regarded as a utility and an essential service, rather than a luxury that low-income communities, small populations, or remote locations must forego.
Spurred by the desire to benefit the community they serve and by the threat of losing votes (not to mention the potential for supplementing the public coffers), municipal authorities, particularly in the United States but also in Europe and Asia, have launched “municipal broadband” initiatives.
This report presents case studies of various municipal initiatives around the world, highlighting the issues and challenges that the municipalities concerned have had to face. The various solutions they have chosen to address such issues as, “Who should own the network?”, “Who should operate it?”, and “How much control over pricing and coverage should a municipality be allowed to have”, are described in this report.
The report also profiles key contractors and equipment suppliers and describes the various wireless and fiber technologies that are being applied to this market.
The purpose of this report is to provide municipalities with a comprehensive understanding of the technologies and the issues that they will likely face. In particular, there is much debate over the benefits and dangers of local government becoming involved in commercial markets and the implications that this has for fair competition. The report looks objectively at each of the arguments for and against municipal involvement in broadband access provision and separates out the real issues from the “red herrings”. A detailed description of state and federal legislation dealing with municipal broadband in the United States is also provided.
**Please note the above single user price is for a non printable copy, the site license price is printable.
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