No More Taxpayer-Funded Municipal Networks, Says Group

NTIA policymakers should reject any plans to expand municipal broadband networks when they meet to discuss action for the stimulus bill's broadband grant programs, said the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI).

"The NTIA should not support the advancement of taxpayer-funded networks," said IPI's Center for Technology Freedom Director Bartlett Cleland. "With all of the bailouts and pork projects taxpayers are already shouldering, the last thing they should have to pay for is a bunch of failed municipal broadband projects on top of it all."

According to a report released yesterday and authored by IPI senior fellow Barry M. Aarons, municipal broadband has been plagued by failure nearly every time it has been attempted, and at great cost to taxpayers.

In the report, entitled We Told You So: Continue to Say No to Municipal Broadband Networks, Aarons writes: "In 2004, we cautioned governments to be careful not to sponsor communications ventures like municipal broadband networks, and in particular, local Wi-Fi Projects ... time and experience have proven us correct."

Technology innovation will continue to far outpace the speed of government, says Aarons. "As online services become more sophisticated, customers have become accustomed to regular upgrades, challenging the ability of governments to keep up with demand," he writes. If policymakers must sponsor any initiative to deploy broadband technology, they should instead support the expansion of broadband into underserved or rural areas."

When municipal broadband networks fail, it is the taxpayers who must pay for the loss. continued the release. And municipal broadband systems have been expensive government failures in cities including, but not limited to, Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland and Orlando.

"When the marketplace drives the investment, the results are far superior to any instance when government tries to force a market," said Aarons.

The Institute for Policy Innovation is an independent, non-profit public policy organization based in Dallas, Texas.