State and local advocates debated what factors go into...
State and local advocates debated what factors go into successful broadband initiatives, during a Thursday webinar hosted by the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, NATOA and the Public Technology Institute. Municipalities wear many hats, said municipal-focused…
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attorney and advocate Jim Baller. Key issues include state barriers and opportunities, paying attention to local needs and conditions and finding local champions to help lead these broadband projects, he said. Fiber has clear benefits worth investing in, said NATOA President Joanne Hovis, who noted that wireline and wireless should be considered complementary services. She described two “very big picture business models” for public fiber -- an institutional model, with government fiber as an economic development platform to spur the private sector, and then a more public-facing model, in which the government brings fiber to the home for those instances where the private sector has not acted. The second model is “far more ambitious, far more risky” but with great potential rewards, she said: “These items are not easy to quantify.” She urged advocates to think of these projects in terms of “public sector metrics” of success. “We really have to think differently about our communities,” said Deborah Acosta, chief innovation officer of San Leandro, Calif. “Everything now becomes connected.” These projects are all about economic development, Acosta said, describing the 100 Gbps capabilities of the Lit San Leandro project, which she called the fastest fiber in the U.S. “Today we have 11 miles lit up.” The project has led San Leandro to rethink how it does business as well as what the role of a CIO should be, she said.