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9 ISJLP 21 (2013-2014)
Municipal Broadband: History's Guide

handle is hein.journals/isjlpsoc9 and id is 21 raw text is: I/S: A JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY Municipal Broadband: History's Guide ERIC NULL* Abstract: Over the past decade, an amazing trend has taken hold across the country-municipalities have begun providing Internet access to themselves and their citizens. Many areas of the United States, rural areas especially, are being left without privately provided Internet access. Those areas might consider a municipally-controlled alternative to private Internet service providers to prevent being left behind as the Internet increasingly becomes the means in which society communicates, participates, and influences. While benefits abound when municipalities provide Internet access, not every municipality should do so. Factual circumstances change from city to city. Many are, or can be, served adequately by private service providers, and that should be a consideration. Municipalities considering providing their own network should look to case studies to gain important insight. This article provides a small sampling of case studies that could provide such insight. This article will detail the stories offive municipal networks and deduce lessons they can teach us. First, three success stories will be discussed: Bristol, Va., Corpus Christi, Tex., and Santa Monica, Cal. A discussion of the unsuccessful stories in Philadelphia, Pa., and St. Cloud, Fla. will follow. From these cases, lessons regarding business models and growth of the network can be gleaned. Both of these lessons are important to comprehend when determining whether to pursue a municipal broadband network, and both could cause the demise of the network if not handled J.D. 2012, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. This is a seminar paper for the Communications Law course at Cardozo Law School. Thanks to Professor Susan Crawford for her great comments throughout my drafts. Thanks to Christopher Mitchell of the Institute of Local Self-Reliance for his comments and thoughts.

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