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by Christopher Mitchell, Director, Telecommunications as Commons Initiative, January 2008
 Executive Summary
The United States, creator of the Internet, increasingly lags in access to it. In the absence of a national broadband strategy, many communities have invested in broadband infrastructure, especially wireless broadband, to offer broadband choices to their residents.
Newspaper headlines trumpeting the death of municipal wireless networks ignore the increasing investments by cities in Wi-Fi systems. At the same time, the wireless focus by others diverts resources and action away from building the necessary long term foundation for high speed information: fiber optic networks.
DSL and cable networks cannot offer the speeds required by a city wishing to compete in the digital economy. Business, government, and citizens all need affordable and fast access to information networks.
Today's decisions will lay the foundation of telecommunications infrastructure for decades. Fortunately, we already know the solution: wireless solves the mobility problem; fiber solves the speed and capacity problems; and public ownership offers a network built to benefit the community.
Download the full report
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Brooke Gullikson
Tel. 612-379-3815
Email: bgullikson@ilsr.org
New Report Concludes: To Be Competitive, Cities Must Own High Speed Information Networks
Minneapolis, Minn.-- (January 22, 2008). The United States, creator of the Internet, increasingly lags in high-speed access to it. In the absence of a national broadband strategy, hundreds of communities have invested in broadband infrastructure to solve their problem locally. A new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) explores this essential infrastructure and the options now available to communities.
The ILSR Report contends that DSL and cable networks fail to offer the speeds and capacity necessary for the digital future.
"As broadband has gone from convenience to necessity, communities can no longer rely on private providers to satisfy their broadband needs," explains Christopher Mitchell, author of the study and Director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative for ILSR. "As we transition from copper-based networks to fiber optic networks, each community has an opportunity to build the network they need for their stakeholders."
Communities are continuing to invest in broadband networks -- both wired and wireless. Mitchell's study, Municipal Broadband: Demystifying Wireless and Fiber-Optic Options, serves to inform communities about these technologies and the tradeoffs of each.
"This study helps communities to understand the broadband world -- a complicated place -- so they can make informed decisions to meet their needs now, and in the future, " says Mitchell.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with Christopher Mitchell, please contact Brooke Gullikson.
Since 1974, ILSR has worked with citizen groups and private businesses in developing practices that extract the maximum value from local resources. A program of ILSR, the New Rules Project helps policy makers to develop rules as if community matters.
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