|
|
Digital Cities and Community Broadband Networks: Regulatory Paths and PitfallsPublished by: Yankee Group Published: Jun. 1, 2007 - 26 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractMunicipal broadband can be seen as a key to realizing the Anywhere Network™ for rural and economically disadvantaged communities and areas where broadband infrastructure is not available. Municipal broadband initiatives and projects are popping up worldwide as municipalities try to address the digital divide issue by providing affordable broadband access; a cornerstone objective of municipal broadband. This objective must be then balanced in terms of the choices that a municipality must make covering ownership, deployment, current and future operation of the network. The decisions a municipality must make about technology, business models and service models are equally difficult because they are generally out of its comfort zone. As if those choices were not hard enough, municipalities must be continuously aware of existing and pending legislation that can affect the deployment of their broadband networks.A municipality has an additional role to play: create infrastructure where private operators are not prepared to invest. Rural communities and certain areas of cities can be at a disadvantage geographically because as there is insufficient incentive for private operators to build networks, and in many of these cases, municipal broadband is the only way these communities can connect to the Anywhere Network. Yankee Group considers that municipalities can be a driving force in connecting rural and economically disadvantaged communities, but in many cases that is where the municipalities’ involvement should cease. The end goal of municipalities that offer retail and wholesale broadband services should be to create a network that gives rise to competitive market situations and in some cases, handover of the network to private operators. The municipality should ideally maintain control over public services that utilize the network infrastructure. In some situations, private operators may be unwilling to take control of the networks. Depending on the uptake of services by residential and business consumers, the municipality must either continue to support the network or turn the lights out. Legislators and regulators around the world are generally in favor of municipal broadband initiatives because of the perceived benefits that broadband access brings to communities. The regulatory approaches can range from pro-municipal developments to restrictive regulation to straight-out bans. In this Yankee Group Report, we look at a collection of cases that fall under these categories of regulation either fostering or hindering municipal broadband plays. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
|
|||
|
About MarketResearch.com
|
||||