>Municipal broadband is an interesting idea but physical infrastructure inevitably needs maintenance and I'm not sure tax dollars should be used to maintain fib

>Municipal broadband is an interesting idea but physical infrastructure inevitably needs maintenance and I'm not sure tax dollars should be used to maintain fiber optic lines to residences. There's no need to lease the fiber infrastructure, just provide interconnect nodes for ISPs. Municipal broadband maintenance can be paid for by charging interconnect fees to the ISPs who wish to service that area. Once the infrastructure is in place, barriers to entry for ISPs is very low. All you need is bandwidth and connection to the municipal network. Maintenance can be provided on a cost plus basis by an independent (i.e., not the ISPs) company that manages and maintains the infrastructure. And surpluses from interconnect fees can be used for both network enhancements and other municipal programs.