Strong telecom investment is “a long-term way of life” and...

is a 38-year-old nonprofit advocating for local communities. The town has 9,000 residents but offers broadband transmission speeds above 1 Gbps and 4G WiMAX Internet, the subject of a recent institute report that emphasizes the 26 years of patience in Chanute’s “proactive plan and vision” (http://xrl.us/bntebc). The town doesn’t want to be the retail provider of voice and video services, but would rather transport Internet Protocol packets, Lester said of his vision for an open access network. Chanute Utilities Director Larry Gates wants to leverage the fiber network with the community’s schools, hospitals and libraries and for public safety needs -- “any opportunity we can,” he said. The debate surrounding municipal networks “misses a key point,” the institute’s report said. “When a community is stuck with slow, unreliable, or high priced service from one or two monopolistic firms, both public and private suffer. When everyone has access to fast, affordable, and reliable broadband, the whole community thrives.” The two officials and Christopher Mitchell, a telecom director at the institute and the report author, discussed the Chanute network pricing models and the way the faster networks have served as an incentive for new businesses. One new business is bringing an estimated 125 jobs over the next two to three years, Lester said. The $250 gigabit connectivity fee is a “heck of a deal,” Mitchell said. “It’s a fun tool to have,” Lester said. The town’s new business is Spirit AeroSystems, a former division of Boeing, Lester told us. Spirit opened its 55,000-square-foot manufacturing center in Chanute last spring, that company said, citing infrastructure as a factor in selecting Chanute (http://xrl.us/bntewr).