Cities should chart their own destiny

Submitted by acohill on Tue, 01/04/2005 - 11:56

Here is an excellent multi-page opinion article that discusses the plight of towns and cities in light of the recent Pennsylvania legislation that forces communities to ask Verizon's permission to develop broadband systems.

As you read this, it is important to remember that we still have a "seven blind men and an elephant" problem when talking about broadband. It means different things to almost everyone, which is part of the problem. As I've been saying for years, "It's not about the technology." What communities need to spend more time on is education--of businesspeople, of elected leaders, and of local government officials. If you can get most thoughtful people and leaders in the community using the same language to describe the same things (in the context of broadband), you've accomplished something very significant, and greatly simplified the challenge of getting an appropriate telecom infrastructure for the community.