Muninetworks has a great new video up…and Lafayette gets a cameo role.
What’s great about this video is that it manages to distill almost all the relevant factors into a single visual. (Designers take note.) Cost, upload speeds, download speeds, and makes clear that community broadband’s superiority is literally on a different scale.
Hats off to the folks at muninetworks!
Here’s a similar graphic that I worked up for Lafayette a few months ago…it compares the everyday price, upload, and download parameters to give an at-a-glance comparison of the value of LUS fiber and its competitors. (Click for a larger, clearer image)
| AT&T (green), Cox (red) and LUS Fiber (blue) |
As is easy to see, LUS beats the competition hands down.
In Wilson, the city already had cable TV, phone, and broadband services, provided by private providers. Yet the city thought it should compete with these businesses. Greenlight, the city's public cable company, has been bleeding red ink since it began service in 2008. It lost more than $1 million in 2009 and nearly $1.5 million in 2010.
According to its financial statements, Wilson has taken more than $11 million from its electric and gas funds to subsidize its competitive foray into the cable business. No wonder Wilson's electric rates are 50 percent higher than that of Progress Energy and its natural gas rates are 30 percent more than PSNC Energy rates.
anono,
I think you need to a look at the actual post and the actual video. I notice that you don't dispute any of the clear facts of video… local community networks are both cheaper and faster than their corporate competitors.
The city of Wilson apparently doesn't agree with your claims about losses saying the project is on track and cash-flow positive. http://www.wilsonnc.org/living/fiberopticnetwork/greenlightfaq/
From long experience with baseless accusations against LUSFiber made here in Lafayette it is easy to guess the genesis of such baseless tall tales. First ignore start-up costs and pretend that any capital intensive business like a fiber-optic network will make a profit during the building years. Sheerest nonsense. Then make unsubstantiated claims trying to link something else (in this case electricity) to some mythical cash transfer from the utility.
We have the same sort of BS here.
I'm not buying it about Wilson. I've rooted around on the internet for the last hour and can't find anything to substantiate your claims. Let's see a bit of real evidence.
I may need your help. I tried many ways but couldn’t solve it, but after reading your article, I think you have a way to help me. I’m looking forward for your reply. Thanks.