The release of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan has brought the issue of universal and affordable broadband Internet access to the attention of policy makers in Washington, D.C. But one of the best tools for achieving this goal is not found inside the Beltway, but rather in a variety of communities across the nation.

An often overlooked solution is municipal broadband projects – where cities invest in building their own high-speed broadband networks. Earlier this month, The Institute for Local Self-Reliance and the New Rules Project released a report examining the current state of municipal broadband projects
around the country.

A range of cities including Bristol, VA, Monticello, MN and Lafayette, LA have built, and now operate, publicly owned broadband networks. Why have these cities taken this step? The National Broadband Plan notes: “broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life.” ( www.broadband.gov) Communities that lack Internet access are on the wrong side of the digital divide, a situation that will only become more and more painful as broadband is increasingly considered to be basic infrastructure. Municipalities simply want to be able to control their own destiny when it comes to high-speed Internet access.

Incumbent Internet service providers are not going to deliver fiber optic connections to every community in the nation. But it is not just rural populations who lack access. Even major cities like Baltimore are frustrated with the delays private firms are having in deploying broadband infrastructure. In response to a public hearing on Verizon’s decision to not deploy its FiOS network to Baltimore, a Verizon official stated “While we'd love to be everywhere at all times, we know we can't.”

And this is exactly the point. Private firms alone cannot be expected to provide our nation with the next generation broadband infrastructure that is so clearly needed. Verizon will not be offering FiOS in places like Powell, WY or Kutztown, PA anytime soon. Nor should Verizon be expected to. For a company that is driven by stock prices and shareholder concerns, it is simply not a cost-effective proposition. But who will have access to truly high-speed broadband service has become too important a public policy issue to be left simply to the profit margin calculations of large corporations. Communities like Powell, WY and Kutztown, PA are also examples of municipalities building their own broadband networks because they recognized that their cities were not in the business plans of incumbent Internet service providers.

One would think that when communities decide to build their own broadband infrastructure in areas that do not appeal to private firms, there would be no opposition, but this is simply not the case. Even though telecom corporations have no intention of offering service they are vigorously opposing municipal projects that would. Internet service providers have sued towns and rigorous lobbying efforts have persuaded 18 states to either ban or severely restrict the ability of communities to build broadband infrastructure.

Large telecom companies cry foul – claiming that such publicly owned municipal projects have an unfair advantage. Such arguments do not hold water. Are the actions of individual towns like Wilson, NC, another municipal broadband pioneer, really a threat to large national corporations like Comcast or TimeWarner? No. The notion that municipal governments should not offer services that compete with private firms is also false. Public entities compete with private companies all the time. The U.S. Postal Service vies with UPS and FedEx for deliveries. City libraries are not a threat to bookstores. Even municipal playgrounds, pools and tennis courts compete with facilities offered by private clubs.

The National Broadband Plan sets lofty goals for improving the public’s access to next generation fiber optic broadband connections. Private corporations admit they alone cannot reach these targets. More must be done. There is no single policy magic bullet that will get us there. However, by allowing cities to control their own destiny, and to build the broadband infrastructure that their communities need, we will see an innovative and bottom-up approach to closing the high-speed Internet digital divide.