I stumbled into the second half of an interesting show on the PBS show NOW about broadband internet access. Here’s a link to a web site about the show. The part that I watched was about the efforts of different cities (Philadelphia and some really small town in Indiana were the examples) to set up locally owned and operated broadband Internet networks, and the efforts of companies like Comcast, Verizon, SBC, etc. to block it. Interesting stuff.
I think I’ve mentioned this in this blog before, but my hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa has had a municipally owned utility company for years and years. About a dozen years ago, CFU bought out whatever company it was that was providing cable TV, and maybe as many as ten years ago, they started providing broadband internet access. I don’t know how the business model works out, but in terms of Internet access, Cedar Falls is way wired.