Wireless (and Wired) Minneapolis

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Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

January 5, 2005

POLICE, STREETS ... INTERNET ACCESS?
CITY CONSIDERS PROVIDING ONLINE SERVICE

BYLINE: ROBERT INGRASSIA, Pioneer Press

BODY:
The St. Paul City Council begins grappling today with a tough question that has set off a national controversy: Should city governments get into the high-speed Internet business?

At least two council members are eager to tackle the issue, saying the city must look for ways to make sure that everyone in St. Paul who wants or needs to go online has ready access to the Internet.

Council Members Dave Thune and Lee Helgen are backing a resolution that would direct staffers to research the topic and present options for the city to pursue.

"We don't know what the end result will be, but we want to do everything possible to make the Internet affordable and available," said Thune, who introduced the resolution. "Everything is on the table, from city ownership of a service to a nonprofit owning it."

St. Paul is joining a growing national debate about the role of government in providing Internet services. The discussion pits those who view affordable Internet access as a public good worthy of government intervention against those who favor letting the marketplace dictate price, performance and availability.

CITIES JUMPING IN

Scores of cities across the country already provide some form of online access or are considering doing so. Philadelphia is pressing ahead with an ambitious plan to create a citywide wireless Internet service, known as Wireless Fidelity, or Wi-Fi. Lafayette, La., is working to run fiber Internet wires to every home in the city.

Other communities are pursuing more modest programs, creating wireless Internet "hot spots" around schools, recreation centers or libraries. Some municipalities are using government-operated Internet service to try to attract businesses to blighted parts of town.

With wireless service, computer users can access the Internet from their homes, businesses, parks or anywhere else the signal reaches. A fiber connection can provide Internet service at a bandwidth far greater than most residential technologies, including cable modems, DSL and Wi-Fi.

In Minnesota, Chaska has created a wireless service, enabling residents to sign up for high-speed access for about $16 per month. Last year, Minneapolis began looking at options for providing Internet access at public facilities.

Helgen said St. Paul should consider teaming with Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota and other public entities to develop ideas for boosting the availability of high-speed Internet access.

"Wi-Fi is a way to reach into neighborhoods where not everyone has access to cable or DSL," he said. "Providing the service and the infrastructure is a way to close the digital divide."

Backers of government involvement liken the development of high-speed Internet access to the early days of electrical power. They argue that government often can provide broadband Internet service to more people at a lower price than private industry, just as thousands of public utilities did with electricity in the early 1900s.

At this point, no one in St. Paul is ready to estimate the cost of providing a service. Costs in other cities have varied greatly depending on service provided, but have ranged into the tens of millions.

UPPING THE COMPETITION

Cities that invest in Internet networks are making sure their residents and businesses don't get left behind, said Jim Baller, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who has represented numerous municipalities in their quests to provide Internet service.

Baller said major telecommunications firms, such as cable companies and phone service providers, have failed to invest in the type of equipment and technology that could handle the coming demand for broadband Internet services, particularly online video.

"The cable and phone companies have settled into a comfortable competition," Baller said. "If third parties emerge to create additional competition, there are multiple benefits for the community."

Baller and others argue that city Internet services can increase access for the public, spark economic development and prompt private providers to lower their rates.

There is little debate that the nation's Internet infrastructure is lacking. In 2002, the U.S. Commerce Department concluded that existing high-speed services, such as cable and DSL, may prove "woefully insufficient" to meet future demands and that "today's broadband will be tomorrow's traffic jam."

During last year's presidential campaign, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry lamented that the United States has fallen behind Korea, Japan and other nations in providing broadband Internet access to the public.

But not everyone sees government intervention as the solution. Several telecommunications firms have been fighting cities' efforts to offer high-speed Internet service. Some industry experts contend that government meddling stifles competition.

"Broadband access is expanding rapidly around the country," said Joseph Bast, president of the Heartland Institute, a think tank in Chicago that studies public policy issues. "The private sector, having sat on the sidelines several years during the dot.com crash, is back in force and spending millions of dollars on this stuff."

Bast, whose organization gets about a quarter of its operating budget from corporate donations, said even without government intervention, high-speed Internet access is becoming more affordable and available.

"You can get cable service for $39 per month," he said. "That's chump change and not beyond the means of even someone who collects a welfare check."

St. Paul's discussion could last months. If the council agrees to move forward, city staffers will meet with officials from Minneapolis and other area cities to discuss the matter. The council resolution sets no timeline for staff to issue a report.