In 2004, we headed up a group of local citizens who wanted high speed Internet to Chino Hills. At the time, our community was listed at Verizon as "NANP", when it came to DSL. That stood for "Not Available, Not Planned". With the help of the city and some strong lobbying, we put Chino Hills on Verizon's map and accelerated the plans of the local cable provider at the time, Adelphia. Within a year of so of beginning our campaign, we had two dependable broadband choices for residents and we set the issue aside.
Since that time, the Internet has come a long way and continues to grow. The delivery of video content online has quadrupled since 2004 and is much more mainstream today. Companies like Netflix, Youtube.com, and Hulu are streaming more and more video online and the general use of the Internet for day to day services continues to explode.
Have you heard of "The Cloud"? The cloud is simply a metaphor for "The Internet", but what it means is that more and more software and services are being delivered online. Here is an example:
Google Documents offers the most commonly used features of Microsoft Office, including MS Word, MS Excel, & MS Power point at https://docs.google.com. The benefits include:
~ The price (It's free.)
~ You never have to "update" the software (It's done automatically online as updates are created)
~ You never have to "patch" the software (It's done automatically online as patches are created)
So consider this. As more and more users drop the expense of buying Microsoft Office and begin using this new online service, bandwidth usage will continue to grow. Today, we bank online, we pay our bills online, we watch video online, we buy products and services online, we socialize online more than ever before, and most importantly, we are working online. Today's workers are telecommuting more than ever before.
My point is this... It may be time to look at the issue of high(er) speed broadband access for Chino Hills residents again.
I recently watched a video put out by MuniNetworks.org. It pointed out that several communities across the country have built their own high speed networks and are outpacing the large carriers. I've embedded the video below...
Although I'm on record as being critical of public entities entering private markets, I love this idea. Why? Because large carriers like Verizon and Time Warner couldn't care less about local communities like Chino Hills. They've had high speed networks here now for over five years and high rates of acceptance, but their rates have stayed the same. It's the same old thing. We'll give you your first year at a discount and then we'll charge you the same old (high) prices we've always charged.
Time Warner is an $18 Billion dollar company with $1.3 Billion in profits in 2010. Verizon did $106 Billion with $2.5 Billion dollars in profits in 2010. They're not worried about Chino Hills. In fact both of these companies are actively lobbying states around the country to prevent local municipalities from entering the broadband market. I'd like to see our city enter this business and give these national companies a run for their money. That would be better than what the city did earlier this year - entering the local advertising business, competing against a few locals who make their living off of limited local ad dollars.
Getting into broadband access is something that makes much more sense and potentially offers much more revenue to a city. It enhances the community and it won't hurt local businesses. In fact it will empower local businesses. This is an area where some kind of public/private partnership should be explored.
The North Carolina Rural Internet Access Authority may hold some examples of how municipalities can enhance their local economies by building high speed networks. Below is a report that spells out some of their principles.
Read the report... | Date posted: 7/27/2011
I'd like to bring this up again and I hope our city council will consider giving it a look.
