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Small Town Builds Its Own Gigabyte Network; Cost To Citizens $57/month
An anonymous reader writes "On Thursday, the board of O-Net gave approval for residents to get access to [full gigabit bandwidth] for the same price that they currently pay for a guaranteed download speed of 100 megabits per second — $57 to $90 a month, depending on whether they have bundled their internet with TV and phone service. ... the town realized that it couldn't attract technology-based businesses and that bandwidth was a challenge even to ordinary businesses. It came up with a plan — it would install a fibre network throughout the town that would connect to the larger inter-community network being built by the government at that time — the Alberta Supernet."
Headline says gigabyte network, then the summary says gigabit. Finally, it turns out it's 100mbps.
By the time you finish reading this comment it will be 56k.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Canada.. figures.... Do that in the states and get sued into bankruptcy.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
From TFA:
On Thursday, the board of O-Net gave approval for residents to get access to a full gigabit (or 1,000 megabits) per second of bandwidth
I guess it was too much to expect someone posting as AC to actually click the link in the summary.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Olds, Alberta
(Population eight thousand)
Getting high speed internet in Alberta anywhere outside a larger population centre has been virtually impossible, so it's interesting to see rural towns take the problem by the horns on their own with success.
crazy dynamite monkey
It says Gigabyte not gigabyte... so it must mean the network features customizable voltages and clock speeds for easy-to-use overclocking and a good warranty policy.
No, it's because the three major providers in the U.S. sue the municipality for trying to offer what the provider refuses to do, and at a similar if not lower price. The companies claim they can't compete against the government entity.
It's like the batshit crazy ex who doesn't want to be with you but also doesn't want anyone else being with you.
Either way, you're screwed.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Because we're a community-owned project we get to balance out profitability versus what's best for the community."
I'm from America, so could someone please explain to me what that last part of the sentence means. Does it have to do with Q4 fiscal projections, or stocks, or something else? I just don't understand what this whole "community" thing is.
There are lots of towns in the US, big and small. that have un-used fiber laying around, which was installed the last time they ripped up their streets for remodel, or which was built into subdivisions as a conditions of their permitting process. Most of this is used to tie a few buildings public buildings together, or (an a sad number of cases) not used at all.
There entire counties that have fiber running to every minor town. (Google county fiber network = 14 million hits).
Most of these towns don't have fiber running everywhere. So turning it on ind the downtown core is often avoided simply because it will cause a clamor for fiber everywhere from the rest of the tax payers. Some of it has been in the ground so long nobody knows if it works or not. Since it wasn't being used, in some cities it has been damaged by construction and nobody was even aware of it. Some towns are putting up FREE PUBLIC WIFI, using their fiber. And almost as soon as it is turned on the "won't somebody think of the children" crowd shows up demanding censorship. There are a lot of political land mines to dodge when putting this stuff to use. So far too much of it sits idle.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
I thought government was inefficient and can't do anything right? How would a super efficient private company ever have trouble competing?
These folks need to get their stories straight.
The boondoggle that keeps picking your pocket, on the premise that if more people are inserted as middle-men, the cost of service will go down.
"Competition in the market" is true for goods produced through labour. It does not account for structural differences in the sale of services and delivery, or in extractive "rent seeking".
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
If we assume that the AC was just poking fun at the title/summary disagreement, then it was a fair comment.
Ashland, Oregon did this many years ago. From what I've heard from people that live there, it's worked out well.
"Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!"