Broadcast spectrum is quite limited, allowing only a few channels to send signals over the air to antennas. The Federal Communications Commission decides who gets licenses to use the airwaves. Cable and satellite dishes offer more channel capacity, but the owner must still choose which channels to offer. They pick what they think their customers want to watch.

But what if there were an effectively unlimited number of channels? Welcome to the world of fiber. Fiber-optic networks have sufficient capacity to offer many tens of thousands of channels. Communities across the United States are building these networks to make sure they remain relevant in the digital economy. So, when a community builds a fiber-optic network, who decides what content is offered?

Continue reading

Minneapolis, Minn.— (June 4, 2008). One day before the city of Monticello secured funding to build a citywide fiber optic network, TDS Telecom filed a lawsuit challenging Monticello’s right to construct the network.

Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), was not surprised. “Cable and telephone companies routinely file these lawsuits against community owned networks,” says Mitchell. Continue reading

Minneapolis, Minn.—(May 20, 2008).  In a matter of days, MetroFi and Earthlink have announced they are abandoning the municipal wireless market.  Both will shut down their existing Wi-Fi networks in several cities if they cannot find buyers.

The private sector has largely decided municipal Wi-Fi networks are not profitable. But the public sector has come to the opposite conclusion and is continuing to build networks.  Why?

Continue reading