City-owned Telecommunications?
The Mason City Globe Gazette updated us on the status of a bill winding it's way through the Iowa House:
Mediacom
and a group in favor of creating city-owned fiber-optic utilities are
at odds over bills in the Legislature that would make it harder for
municipal utilities to form and would make city-owned cable systems pay
property taxes.
Cable
television and Internet service provider Mediacom, which has launched a
television ad to promote the legislation, says the entry of government
into telecommunications industries creates unfair competition.
But opponents say city-operated utilities can provide better services and lower prices to consumers in many cases.
One
measure moving in the Iowa Legislature, House Study Bill 182, would
place more hurdles in front of cities that want to form telecom
utilities.
It would regulate the way cities fund utilities and what information they must provide before a public vote.
The
problem with enacting hurdles: city infrastructure is not just a
“current business” issue, it's also becoming a growing economic
development issue as Internet access becomes important for business and
personal use. (For example: Minneapolis wants to create a city wide wireless internet grid.)
Cities
and communities need to have the ability to take control over their own
destiny, not just waiting for the private sector to “provide” the
future. (Iowa's experience with rural electrification is enough
to support this notion.)
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