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Provo Utah did something like this which failed and was bought by Google which now has also apparently failed. Fun times.

ryao 10y ago
Did Provo handle the fiber to the premise while requiring people to purchase internet service from CLECs to use it with the exception of a crippled free tier to get people to bite? If not, they did not do this. Furthermore, they did not stick with it over 30 years, which is the time frame required for such an endeavor to be a success. The entire point of the idea is to divide responsibilities so that no one organization takes on too much and do so in a way that fosters competition. That includes funding via municipal bonds where pay back is expected to take ~3 decades. Had they done this, Google could have just been one CLEC among many and Provo would still be at it. Local governments ought to focus on building roads while businesses focus on building the services that are provided through them. Having each business build its own network of private roads is infeasible. It sounds absurd when stated in this way, but that is what is happening. We need the local government to do the one thing it is good at doing, which is enabling transportation for private industry. Private industry can do the rest. That includes IP transit in such a way that tier 1 ISPs like Hurricane Electric would have a very low barrier to becoming CLECs. If each subscriber pays a fee dedicated to repaying the municipal bonds over a 30 year period, this would pay for itself. If people operating it mess up, they can be replaced. The CLECs are interchangeable from the customer's standpoint. The contractors running the infrastructure are interchangeable from the community advisory board's standpoint. The members of the community advisory board overseeing are replaceable from the local politicians' standpoint. The local politicians are replaceable by the public. It is very different than what we have now where if people are unhappy, they cannot replace the incumbents and have little ability to voice grievances. This is the sort of system that I want in my community. I am abroad right now, but when I get back to the US, I intend to start gathering people to discuss how this could become a reality in my area.

ryao 10y ago

Did Provo handle the fiber to the premise while requiring people to purchase internet service from CLECs to use it with the exception of a crippled free tier to get people to bite? If not, they did not do this. Furthermore, they did not stick with it over 30 years, which is the time frame required for such an endeavor to be a success. The entire point of the idea is to divide responsibilities so that no one organization takes on too much and do so in a way that fosters competition. That includes funding via municipal bonds where pay back is expected to take ~3 decades. Had they done this, Google could have just been one CLEC among many and Provo would still be at it. Local governments ought to focus on building roads while businesses focus on building the services that are provided through them. Having each business build its own network of private roads is infeasible. It sounds absurd when stated in this way, but that is what is happening. We need the local government to do the one thing it is good at doing, which is enabling transportation for private industry. Private industry can do the rest. That includes IP transit in such a way that tier 1 ISPs like Hurricane Electric would have a very low barrier to becoming CLECs. If each subscriber pays a fee dedicated to repaying the municipal bonds over a 30 year period, this would pay for itself. If people operating it mess up, they can be replaced. The CLECs are interchangeable from the customer's standpoint. The contractors running the infrastructure are interchangeable from the community advisory board's standpoint. The members of the community advisory board overseeing are replaceable from the local politicians' standpoint. The local politicians are replaceable by the public. It is very different than what we have now where if people are unhappy, they cannot replace the incumbents and have little ability to voice grievances. This is the sort of system that I want in my community. I am abroad right now, but when I get back to the US, I intend to start gathering people to discuss how this could become a reality in my area.