I just moved to a small town. A regional city has rolled out municipal fiber and the towns around it have the opportunity to hook into that city’s municipal fiber network if we rollout the infrastructure.
Comcast is spending money through fake grassroots groups to try to get people to vote NO.
I’m trying to convince my fellow citizens to vote YES. The town would take out a loan to rollout the infrastructure, monthly fees would go to pay off that loan and presumably pay the city for the fiber connection as well.
Honestly, the details don’t interest me as much as just having a better service and having an option other than Comcast. I figured that “locally owned and operated” would be a slam dunk with xenophobic Republicans, but they seem to be convinced by Comcast’s lobbying on the issue and are going to vote NO because taxes might go up (if people don’t switch to the service). Has anyone had success with convincing people of the value of municipal fiber?
The answer to the ‘Taxes might go up’ concern is that even if taxes do go up, it will be offset by cheaper broadband rates even for people who don’t switch. Comcast right now are operating an effective monopoly; when they lose that, and a presumably cheaper option becomes available, they’ll have to adjust their pricing to compete. Even folks who do not intend to switch stand to benefit from this initiative.
True, Taxes might go up.
But I guarantee your Comcast bill will go up far more then any tax.
