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It seems on HN, that a lot of people are in favor of municipal owned last mile fiber as opposed to ISPs. However, this case makes me wonder if that becomes the

It seems on HN, that a lot of people are in favor of municipal owned last mile fiber as opposed to ISPs. However, this case makes me wonder if that becomes the case, would we eventually see more shenanigans like this with cities and towns trying to charge internet services for access to their citizens. Without competition, I could see them becoming even worse than AT&T and Comcast.

BLKNSLVR 6y ago
I guess it all comes down to the intention behind the action, and then what opportunities are offered as a result of the action down the track. Do you trust them now? Can you trust them in the future? Are they more or less likely to screw you than the big comms mono/duo-poly? Municipality A may have initiated ISP infrastructure contract for the actual benefit of it's constituents against the comms mono/duo-poly. Hurrah for Municipality A sticking it to the man and looking out for the constituency. X years down the track, Municipality A needs funding for corrupt members yacht or office chesterfield reupholstering. Hey, we're practically giving away broadband compared to the comms mono/duo-poly and prices have increased way below CPI the last few years, let's bump it up to (artificial) market-competitive, woo!
nybble41 6y ago
> It seems on HN, that a lot of people are in favor of municipal owned last mile fiber as opposed to ISPs. Yes, and this is really quite silly when an independent fiber co-op would serve the same function with a very similar governing structure and responsibility toward its members without the obvious conflict of interest that comes with having the municipal government as your ISP. The only "advantages" a government-run ISP has over a co-op have to do with abusing their monopoly over the local right-of-way and powers of taxation to favor their own service over any potential competition.

BLKNSLVR 6y ago

I guess it all comes down to the intention behind the action, and then what opportunities are offered as a result of the action down the track. Do you trust them now? Can you trust them in the future? Are they more or less likely to screw you than the big comms mono/duo-poly? Municipality A may have initiated ISP infrastructure contract for the actual benefit of it's constituents against the comms mono/duo-poly. Hurrah for Municipality A sticking it to the man and looking out for the constituency. X years down the track, Municipality A needs funding for corrupt members yacht or office chesterfield reupholstering. Hey, we're practically giving away broadband compared to the comms mono/duo-poly and prices have increased way below CPI the last few years, let's bump it up to (artificial) market-competitive, woo!

nybble41 6y ago

> It seems on HN, that a lot of people are in favor of municipal owned last mile fiber as opposed to ISPs. Yes, and this is really quite silly when an independent fiber co-op would serve the same function with a very similar governing structure and responsibility toward its members without the obvious conflict of interest that comes with having the municipal government as your ISP. The only "advantages" a government-run ISP has over a co-op have to do with abusing their monopoly over the local right-of-way and powers of taxation to favor their own service over any potential competition.