Municipal Broadband...yes or no?

If you were tuned in to Channel 16 on Tuesday, January 17, you heard Steve, Marty and me discuss a really hot topic across the United States these days...municipal broadband. If you weren't tuned in, you should have been. If you tuned in via the Internet, LET US KNOW ABOUT IT! Since the information we pass along here at Channel 16 is MUST KNOW type stuff, Steve decided that it was time to make that information accessible worldwide so he implemented streaming audio. You can't see us via the Internet, but you can hear us, and since what we say is much more important that how we look, that's a good thing. If you haven't listened to us via the 'net yet, then go to the Voice of Rolla website and check it out, then make sure you let Steve know how we sound. Anyway, back to municipal broadband....

If you're connected to the Internet at home or at work, you're probably connected by either dialup or broadband. Dialup means you have a modem that dials up a number at your Internet Service Provider and connects via your telephone line to an Internet server at their location. That's how you "get on the 'net." Broadband is an umbrella term for a connection that is "always on" which means you don't have to dial up anybody. You just turn on your computer and ta da....you're on the 'net. Your broadband connection can be via cable, DSL or wireless. Besides not having to dial up your ISP, the difference in speed at which you connect to the Internet with broadband compared to dialup is tremendous! There are currently multiple projects underway to provide citizens with broadband at the municipal level. That means folks are getting their broadband connection from the city, NOT from the private sector. Why? Well, there seem to be underserved sections of many cities (and I won't even go into rural areas) that have not been deemed cost-effective by private ISPs so they don't offer broadband in those areas. The cost vs revenue for private ISPs just doesn't make it feasible to offer broadband in those areas. The idea behind municipal broadband is that HIGH SPEED (read that broadband) Internet access is becoming as important to cities as water and electricity and all citizens (especially businesses) should have access to it without having to offer up their first born to pay for it. Now we get into the BIG debate....should the government be competing with the private sector? What do YOU think?

I'm not about to get on a soapbox for either viewpoint here. What I am going to do is provide you with a list of websites that you can visit to become better informed. You MUST become better informed. I guarantee you, this issue may not have affected us here in Rolla yet, but it will....I have tried to assemble some resources that promote both sides of the issue as well as resources that present an unbiased view of both sides. Judge for yourself and decide which side of the fence you want to be on, but make up your mind!

• Muniwireless.com


• Map of Municipal Broadband/Wireless project nationwide


• Broadband Issues Blog


• Government Technology article - The Golden Egg?


• Municipal Broadband and WiFi:
  Reason's Recommended Links and Reading
  

This is by no means a complete list of resources. That would make this post longer than Dave Weinbaum's! However, it does offer food for thought and I hope you take some time to explore these and other resources. It's comin' round the bend, folks. Get ready!