Muni Fiber and Politics

Wed Jul 23 23:53:50 UTC 2014

On Wed, Jul 23, 2014 at 09:55:39AM -0500, Steven Saner wrote:
[...]
> Now, it is tempting to suggest that the electric cooperative should take
> on the project.

I've seen that exact scenario happen in rural New Mexico.  The Co-op 
members wanted dial-up access, and couldn't get it.  They asked the
co-op board to build an ISP, and they did.  They weren't great at the
job, but no one else was putting in access ports within the local
calling area.

A few years later, we bought their customer base.  The co-op was happy
to sell to someone that "did Internet for a living."  We gave them
enough money to make the board and members happy with their investment.

So, yeah.  I'd say it's more than tempting to suggest that an
electric co-op could take on broadband projects.