5 Key Strategic Recommendations for Municipal Broadband Planning
The range of broadband issues relevant to municipal leaders continues to grow. Pressing issues at the national and local level include the lack of competitive options for Internet access, the high cost of services, requests by wireless companies to site 5G cell towers around the city, the impact of the digital divide on underprivileged citizens, privacy issues, net neutrality, and, perhaps the most important issue: the impact of communications on economic development. The harsh reality is that negative growth (the opposite of economic development) will increasingly happen in communities with broadband infrastructure that does not favor the consumer.
Until now, municipalities have mostly watched from the sidelines while private companies have taken control of wireless and wired communications systems. With that control, these companies have decided where they will build, what they will build, what the price will be, what services will operate on their network, and the type of innovation that occurs.
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However, because the network is now so fundamental to nearly every aspect of modern life, municipalities can no longer afford to merely watch from the sidelines. Municipal leaders must gain a more comprehensive understanding of how networks work and the interdependencies between networks and other technologies that increasingly impact the livability of a community.
Local leaders cannot afford to ignore current broadband issues and should not continue to outsource the resolution of these issues to the large incumbent providers with the naïve hope that these companies will do what is best for consumers. Planning and thoughtful broadband strategies are necessary to protect the long-term viability of communities.