Laurinburg, North Carolina, is considering opening its fiber-optic network to private providers.

It’s been over a year since the community contracted with a consultant to inventory the community’s assets and provide options for expanding its use to the private sector. Since then, community leaders have discussed looking for potential partners and have met with private providers. According to the Laurinburg Exchange, the city will likely release a Request for Proposals (RFQ) as a way to let providers know they are interested in investigating ways to make excess capacity available.

Community leaders believe providers could make use of the publicly owned fiber for fixed wireless service, lease fiber for business Internet access and telephone services, web hosting, and other services. City Manager Charles Nichols said:

“The city has the capability to offer all those services now; we know this is an asset to this community and we’re trying our best to figure out a way to utilize it.”

Laurinburg already connects ten entities with its network, including County facilities, schools, healthcare clinics and hospitals, the airport, and several local businesses. Community leaders want to spur economic development by offering high-quality connectivity in Laurinburg to more businesses.

Tapping An Existing Resource

The city deployed its fiber-optic network in the mid-1990s to improve communications between city hall and its public works facilities. It later leased excess capacity to other public entities, including several facilities that obtained Internet access and data transmission through School Link. As the city has expanded network footprint, it now consists of a 100-mile ring that surrounds the county.

Laurinburg prevailed in a lawsuit commenced by BellSouth in the early 2000s when the provider argued the city had no authority to operate the system. When the trial and appellate courts examined the prevailing statute and the technology in place, however, both found for the city. Since then, state law has changed but Laurinburg’s right to operate its system is grandfathered in; they are still, however, subject to the state prohibition on expansion

The city is the seat of Scotland County, located near the South Carolina...

While New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo focuses on improving Internet access in rural areas upstate, Westchester County is finding its own path to next-generation connectivity.

The county's largest cities are partnering with the county association to bring high-speed Internet access to every household, businesses, healthcare facilities, and educational organizations in the next three to five years. 

Four Cities Together

In early October, the Westchester County Association and the cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, and Yonkers announced the formation of the Smart Growth Gigabit initiative. The cities entered into the “Smart City ComPACT” to collectively apply for funding, collaborate on innovation districts, and develop joint legislative agendas. 

The cities are considering a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) project to provide Gigabit (1,000 Megabits per second) connectivity necessary for telemedicine, digital learning, and economic development. Officials estimate the project will cost about $750 million, based on the costs of similar projects in communities with like populations (405,000 people total). The cities could own and build the network themselves or partner with a private provider; they have not yet decided on which model to pursue.

Smart Growth

The Gigabit Initiative is part of Westchester County Association’s Blueprint for Smart Growth plan. The association is assembling a steering committee of members from Westchester’s cities, healthcare, biotech, education, business, and nonprofit sectors. The collaboration has been described as a public private partnership because Westchester County Association is a private entity.

Westchester County has six cities and 19 towns, and is home to several large companies including the biotech company Regeneron and the technology company IBM. Several of the towns are also...

When the Rochester Post-Bulletin published Christopher Mitchell’s opinion piece in August, it wasn’t only because he is an expert on municipal networks. Christopher’s interest in all things geeky started in Rochester - he went to Rochester Mayo High School.

A Budding Idea

For the past few years, various elected officials, and member of the community-at-large have expressed dissatisfaction for services offered by incumbent Charter Communications. In addition to poor services, City Council members have faced complaints from constituents about awful customer service. Over the past year, the community began showing that they will not abandon the idea of publicly owned Internet infrastructure.

The city, home to the world-class Mayo Clinic, is a hub of healthcare discovery. As medical technology becomes more intertwined with fast, affordable, reliable connectivity, Rochester’s expensive and lackluster incumbent Internet providers are showing that they just aren’t cutting it.

Local Support And Early Analysis

In June, the Post Bulletin Editorial Board published their support for a review of the options:

We'd encourage the council and Rochester Utilities Board (RPU) board to make every effort to explore the costs and benefits of installing municipal broadband Internet services as a way of ensuring our community stays effectively connected to the world around it.

Considering Rochester's economic dependence on science and technology, having access to the highest speeds possible is crucial to the city's future. Unfortunately, existing services lag behind those being offered in other cities, putting Rochester's businesses and residents at a competitive disadvantage.

…

Many questions and concerns remain, but finding answers is the best way for the city to make sure it is serving the needs of its constituents to the fullest.

RPU staff consulted experts as it investigated options and...

In early May, leaders in Savannah, Georgia, retained a consultant to prepare a feasibility study to help the community examine ways to improve local connectivity. Local leaders want consultants to consider ways to better serve municipal facilities, community anchor institutions, businesses, and residents.

Incumbent Trouble

In March, incumbent Comcast announced that it would bring fiber-optic connectivity to businesses in Savannah by the end of 2016, but the company has a poor reputation in the Hostess City with both residents and businesses.

Back in 2011 and 2012, there were so many complaints to city leaders Aldermen began holding public meetings so citizens could air complaints. People complained about high rates, poor customer service, and Internet interruptions during rainstorms. Business owners could not get cable connectivity in the downtown area from Comcast; the company said the low number of connections did not justify the investment. Stop the Cap! covered the whole sordid affair in 2012, describing Savannah’s unhappy populace as in a state of “open revolt.”

The company has reportedly made improvements, but trust is a fragile thing.

Moving Forward, No Comcast

After so much trouble with the cable company, it’s understandable that city leaders might decide to side-step Comcast. According to an announcement in Broadband Communities Magazine, the consultants will examine the existing fiber assets in the city and offer ways to expand off that fiber to better serve the community.

City officials have been discussing the possibilities of better connectivity via a municipal fiber optic network for a while now and have been more open about it in recent months. In March, Mayor Eddie DeLoach told Local News WTOC:

“We got to have fiber optic if we are going to have anyone from the film industry or SCAD or these engineering places,...