My Turn: Municipal broadband providers are good for communities
John Lunt
Published: 12/21/2020 8:50:02 PM
Municipal broadband has an important role to play for 21st-century communities. Internet is increasingly recognized as critical infrastructure. Cities and towns all over the U.S.A. agree. They also recognize that they have a prominent role to play in developing and maintaining this important asset. Over 330 municipalities, including Greenfield and GCET, operate successful municipal broadband networks, and that number grows every month.
Municipalities are also well positioned to service this critical infrastructure. Americans decided long ago that there were certain infrastructure services that were so important to a functioning community that they had to be made equitably accessible to all and should not be left solely to the private market. As a result, municipalities handle multiple complex public infrastructures every day, and broadband is no different. GCET has an inno