The city of Bountiful, Utah voted to build a $48 million fiber network to provide affordable gigabit broadband for its residents and businesses. Regional internet providers Comcast and CenturyLink opposed the plan and tried to force a public vote through a taxpayer group they fund. However, communities often build their own networks because existing options are inadequate. Data shows that community-owned networks provide better, faster, cheaper service than monopolies. While big internet providers claim community networks are a boondoggle, they are just another business plan that often succeeds due to quality proposals and local accountability. Comcast and CenturyLink did not want to provide the high-speed internet Bountiful needed, but also tried to block the city from doing so itself.


You love to see it. Do you have community Internet available where you live?

  • ArtZuron@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Private ISPs could do it better if they weren’t largely all monopolies. The US average internet speed is a fraction of most other developed countries mostly because of them.

    • ProfessorPeregrine@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      Shrug maybe they could. They have yet to prove it in the real world in the US, as you mentioned.

      I like that my ISP has no profit motive and is driven solely by customer/taxpayer satisfaction.

      I wouldn’t like it if it became a political football, but so far so good. I think its safe for now because it is the same network used by the fire and police departments. Comcast really tried to kill it off.