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Boston drops plans for municipal fiber optic internet system given billion dollar cost projection
Image via Times Bulletin
– News covered by Quincy Quarry News with commentary added.
Gamer gaming via a surely large bandwidth internet connection
Image CNN image
The City of Boston has long been pondering the possibility of its building a municipally-operated fiber optic network so as to offer an alternative way to access the internet to all of its residents as well as also offer low-to-no-cost service to low income households in particular.
So what for the fact that internet service is already available to Boston households as well as that low-to-no-cost service is already offered by local telecommunication providers.
In any event, this week a cost projection to develop a citywide municipal fiber optic cable network in Boston was announced as likely to run roughly a billion dollars.
Burn big bucks for bupkis?
Image via cheatsheet.com
In turn, Boston’s City Hall blinked at the cost and is now looking to go a different way: “(a)t this point the City is looking for alternatives that focus on bringing resources to communities most impacted by the digital divide in a more cost effective manner.”
After all, spending a billion to develop a municipal fiber optics system when only around 35,000 Boston residents do not have internet service (with some of them surely not wanting to have internet service at home and surely some others who are already relying on wireless connections to access the internet, ed.) as well as that this number has been steadily declining over time given in part the rolling out of low-to-no-cost service to low-income households.
Granted, the bandwidth so provided is not necessarily as large as premium cost internet service, it is a bit of stretch to view spending big bucks so as to facilitate low income gamers playing Minecraft or Fortnite without suffering any buffering delays as a driving factor to justify spending big bucks to provide digital equity.
Follow the money. ALWAYS follow the money
An old Columbia Pictures image
Even so, the City of Quincy continues to move ahead with its long ongoing initiative to develop a local municipal fiber system that is based upon dubious subscription signup rates, suspect subscription fees, and open question project cost as well as financing assumptions.
So what, apparently, for the fact that for starters Quincy has roughly a seventh of the population of Boston and thus it is only reasonable to project a likely $135 million cost to develop a local municipal fiber optic internet access system in Quincy.
“Trust me on the numbers …” A Facebook photo
Before, that is, factoring in the usual koched-up cost overruns on big ticket Koch projects.
So what also for the facts that the City of Boston is now blinking on doing so, Braintree sold its municipal internet system to Comcast last year, and internet access via wireless technologies is rapidly growing.
Enough already
A file photo
Then again, the Koch Machine has no problem whatsoever sticking local taxpayers with often huge bills to provide benefit for the few as well as especially so for certain long-favored developers who are in turn generous to Mayor Koch’s campaign fund, especially during the holidays.
Source: Municipal fiber internet could cost Boston more than $900M, study says
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If there’s taxpayer money to be spent Koch will attach himself to the scheme like a lamprey.