Municipal broadband service is worthwhile

Your Nov. 23 editorial “Making connections” characterized municipal broadband Internet service as a “utopian-sounding promise” and implied that local governments are unfit to provide such services. High-speed broadband is not a utopian dream. In Belgium, Canada, Finland, South Korea and Taiwan, high-speed broadband already far exceeds the United States in penetration and speed, and often at half the price or less.

Broadband service makes the new economy possible, creating new high-wage jobs, educational opportunity and investment galore.

The notion that municipal broadband fiber networks are busts is an urban myth. Detailed studies commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America and public interest groups Free Press and Media Access Project in April demonstrate that municipal fiber networks spur economic development and new tax revenues.

Congress is debating substantial changes to our telecommunications laws. We need policies that help bridge the digital divide and promote economic competitiveness through affordable Internet access for all Americans.

CELIA WEXLER

Common Cause, Washington

JEFF PERLSTEIN

Media Alliance, Oakland