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I expect people to only switch if the price of the municipal option is lower. I also expect the corporations to get into a price war with municipalities, which

I expect people to only switch if the price of the municipal option is lower. I also expect the corporations to get into a price war with municipalities, which they will win, because they have bigger coffer and economies of scale. I also expect the prices to go slowly but surely back up when the municipal option goes out of business.

asdff 5y ago
In recent years that's not been the case. Municipal option has been faster, sometimes, fiber, and cheaper. It's far from failed, in Chatanooga for example it is very successful.
- smnrchrds 5y ago
  Maybe I am wrong. I hope I am. But the Planet Money episode on this topic mentioned municipal broadband has more failure stories than success. It's worth a listen if you have the time. https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/865908114/small-america-vs-big-internet https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/865908114/small-america-vs-bi...
  - ZoomerCretin 5y ago
    >But the Planet Money episode on this topic mentioned municipal broadband has more failure stories than success. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/865908114 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/865908114 I'm not seeing that in the transcript. I'm seeing a story about corporations being so afraid of municipal broadband that they pay for laws to make it illegal.
    - smnrchrds 5y ago
      They talk about a study. The relevant section starts here: > SAYRE: Christopher Yoo is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in technology and the Internet. And in his spreadsheet is essentially the story of what happened to other cities that tried to do what Wilson, N.C., was trying to do - build and run their own fiber-optic network. ... > cities tend to assume these fiber-optic networks will pay for themselves. They borrow millions and millions of dollars and are often screwed because one of a million things goes wrong. I believe the study is this one: https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/6611-report-municipal-fiber-in-the-united-states-an https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/6611-report-municipal-f...
devit 5y ago
Not sure if it applies to the US, but generally municipalities could use taxpayer money to fund it and make the service free, which beats any corporation, since it's equivalent to making it mandatory to be a customer.

asdff 5y ago

In recent years that's not been the case. Municipal option has been faster, sometimes, fiber, and cheaper. It's far from failed, in Chatanooga for example it is very successful.

smnrchrds 5y ago
Maybe I am wrong. I hope I am. But the Planet Money episode on this topic mentioned municipal broadband has more failure stories than success. It's worth a listen if you have the time. https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/865908114/small-america-vs-big-internet https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/865908114/small-america-vs-bi...
- ZoomerCretin 5y ago
  >But the Planet Money episode on this topic mentioned municipal broadband has more failure stories than success. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/865908114 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/865908114 I'm not seeing that in the transcript. I'm seeing a story about corporations being so afraid of municipal broadband that they pay for laws to make it illegal.
  - smnrchrds 5y ago
    They talk about a study. The relevant section starts here: > SAYRE: Christopher Yoo is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in technology and the Internet. And in his spreadsheet is essentially the story of what happened to other cities that tried to do what Wilson, N.C., was trying to do - build and run their own fiber-optic network. ... > cities tend to assume these fiber-optic networks will pay for themselves. They borrow millions and millions of dollars and are often screwed because one of a million things goes wrong. I believe the study is this one: https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/6611-report-municipal-fiber-in-the-united-states-an https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/6611-report-municipal-f...

devit 5y ago

Not sure if it applies to the US, but generally municipalities could use taxpayer money to fund it and make the service free, which beats any corporation, since it's equivalent to making it mandatory to be a customer.