> the common folk in a town have to pay at least somewhat for the municipal broadband even if they do not use it Keep in mind here that this was the Comcast mo

> the common folk in a town have to pay at least somewhat for the municipal broadband even if they do not use it Keep in mind here that this was the Comcast model, as well. The town was going to pay to expand the infrastructure, then Comcast was going to use it. I take your overall point, though, about encouraging competition among service providers. Unfortunately, this is something that in many places cannot be accomplished at the local level, as Comcast (along with other large providers) have been lobbying and colluding at state and regional levels to prevent competitors from entering the market. Municipal broadband, for some localities, may be the only effective solution available.