We want faster Internet and if can't give it, we'll DO IT OURSELVES

[W1nTry]

IF and I stress IF only we in T&T were this fortunate:

Want 50Mbps Internet in your town? Threaten to roll out your own

ISPs may not act for years on local complaints about slow Internet—but when a town rolls out its own solution, it's amazing how fast the incumbents can deploy fiber, cut prices, and run to the legislature.
By Nate Anderson | Last updated October 27, 2009 9:40 PM CT

Regional telco TDS Telecommunications last week issued a press release announcing a major milestone for the company: 50Mbps service over fiber optic cable to residents of Monticello, Minnesota. The Minneapolis suburb became one of the few non-FiOS communities in the country to experience full fiber-to-the-home deployment, and subscribers will all receive a free upgrade from 25Mbps service to the new 50Mbps tier.

Even better is the price, which starts at $49.95 a month for 50Mbps fiber service without the need to buy other services.

TDS is thrilled. "This is a huge first for TDS," said market manager Tom Ollig. "TDS is working incredibly hard to deliver the faster speeds customers want."

But the entire congratulatory press release glosses over a key fact: the reason that Monticello received a fiber network was the town's decision to install a municipal-owned fiber network to every home in town… spawning a set of TDS lawsuits that went all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the town.
Screaming to be heard

The saga began in 2007, when the town passed a referendum approving the city-owned fiber network. The city says that it had approached TDS and was told that no such system would be installed in town in the near future, so it went ahead with its own plans.

After the referendum, the city was sued by the telco just before groundbreaking began. The suit didn't seem to have much of a chance under Minnesota law, and indeed judges at multiple levels ruled for Monticello. But in the meantime, TDS rolled into town with nine crews of its own and began installing—you guessed it—fiber to the home.

Monticello had just become one of the only US cities in which twin, parallel fiber networks were being built at the same time. Backers of the muni fiber plan were outraged; not only could TDS build a modern fiber network on a moment's notice when it wanted to do so, but the lawsuits prevented the city from doing much of its installation even as TDS moved ahead.

We spoke to TDS about the situation last year, and its director of legislative and public relations told us that TDS didn't act earlier because it didn't actually know that people really, really wanted fiber; once the referendum was a success, the company moved quickly to give people what it now knew they wanted.

After delaying the town's deployment through lawsuits and rolling out fiber service of its own, TDS issued a statement in June 2009 in which it then called the whole rationale for the government project into question.

"In view of TDS' development of a robust broadband platform in Monticello during the past year, it is questionable whether or not the City's feasibility study supporting its own fiber project, which was premised on no broadband competitors and on which the revenue bond purchasers relied when they secured the bonds more than a year ago, is still accurate, and whether the city fiber project is feasible today."

Now, it has upped the ante by doubling everyone's speeds. The moves all seemed designed to keep the idea of a muni-owned fiber network from spreading, but they might well have the opposite effect; one takeaway from the entire saga is that trying to build a muni fiber network is an excellent way to "encourage" investment and innovation from regional or national companies that might not otherwise have your town's own best interests at heart.

Such stories aren't limited to Minnesota suburbs, either. Just last month Telephony Online ran a piece on how Cox cable prices had "dropped considerably" since Lafeyette, Louisiana lit up a fiber system of its own.

"Cox froze the cable rates in Lafayette, and they didn’t freeze the rates in other areas," said Terry Huval, director of the muni project. "We figured our citizens saved over $3 million in cable rates even before we could offer them service."
Competition

This shouldn't be a surprise, as it's really just a classic case of direct competition—something not seen often enough in the wired broadband market. Unfortunately, getting high-speed Internet to your town isn't always as simple as threatening to start a municipal network. Many times, incumbent providers simply file lawsuits while keeping speeds the same.

If your town is really unlucky, the incumbent will just head right to the state legislature, seeking to pass laws constraining the practice. That's what happened to Wilson, North Carolina, which runs a moderately famous 100Mbps system known as Greenlight (which just happens to be the fastest ISP in the entire state).

When Time Warner Cable (which still tops out at 10Mbps and no DOCSIS 3.0) was asked why it had not stepped up to meet the city's demand for faster access, a company rep told TechJournal South that it hadn't actually heard a citizen outcry over the issue—or it would have acted.

Wilson's Internet manager is having none of it. "We don’t want to run anyone out of business," he said, "but we also don’t want to take the leftover table scraps. If they had offered us what we were asking for, next generation good service, we would have happily stepped aside."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/want-50mbps-internet-in-your-town-threaten-to-roll-out-your-own.ars

Note that some ppl in there got the SHAFT as well eh. But even so, who say high speed fibre in de neighbourhood house to house? XD

[chinarakinda]

Wow interesting, how do we go about trying to set our own up.