HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 12/19/2017 - Information From Darin Atteberry Re: Article From Fortune Dated December 10, 2017, Private Providers Spent Nearly $1 Million To Fight Municipal Broadband In One Small Colorado CityPrivate Providers Spent
Nearly $1 Million to Fight
Municipal Broadband in One
Small Colorado City
By David Z. Morris
December 10, 2017
New financial disclosures for a November ballot initiative show that a group
backed by private internet providers spent just over $900,000 to try and
block city-owned broadband service in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The big spenders were nonetheless defeated by a citizens’ group that spent
only $15,000 to support the bond measure, which passed with 57% of the
vote on Nov. 7, approving up to $150 million in financing for a city-run
broadband utility.
Opposition to the measure was spearheaded by the group Priorities First Fort
Collins, which according to filings, received most of its funding from the
Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association. National telecom
giant Comcast is a member of the group.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.
December 14, 2017
TO: Mayor & City Council
FROM: Darin Atteberry
FYI /sek
Most of the group’s spending was on advertising, including a commercial that
argued public spending on broadband would pre-empt spending on roads and
public safety. That argument has been described as deceptive, though, since
the bond would be repaid with subscriber fees and not from the city budget.
Fort Collins Mayor Wade Troxell characterized efforts by the measure’s
opponents as “misinformation.”
Analysis has shown that Comcast could lose as much as $23 million per
year in Fort Collins alone if it faced competition from a city utility. But the
stakes are much larger than that, as municipal broadband efforts spread from
cities like Chattanooga to Seattle, Los Angeles and beyond.
Broadly, those projects are based on the argument that there’s insufficient
competition in the private broadband market. Thanks in part to that lack of
competition, broadband providers are among the most disliked companies in
the entire U.S. economy — and Comcast is one of the least-liked broadband
providers. Chattanooga’s network, which went online in 2010 over industry
opposition, has turned a profit and helped finance upgrades to the city’s
electrical grid, while forcing Comcast to improve its own service in that
market.
Opponents have argued, though, that municipal systems have benefited from
government subsidies. In addition to their public campaigns, private
providers have worked to prevent government competition by seeking state-
level legislation that takes away cities’ right to build their own services.
http://fortune.com/2017/12/10/municipal-broadband-fort-collins-colorado/