Baller, J. and C. Lide (2006). The Case For Public Fiber-to-the-User
Systems. Baller Herbst Law Group, for the Tennessee Broadband
Coalition. March 4, 2006.
http://www.baller.com/pdfs/BHLG_White_Paper_Tenn_3-4-06.pdf
This is a report
of the Baller Herbst Law Group (http://www.baller.com/) to The
Tennessee Broadband Coalition assessing the main criticisms that
opponents of public Fiber-to-the-User (FTTU) initiatives have raised in
Tennessee and elsewhere. The report illustrates the importance of
ultra-high speed broadband networks (fiber can best provide such
speeds) to U.S. communities, and analyzes both leading public FTTU
projects and municipal FTTU project “failures”. The report finds that
in most cases these claims of failure, by incumbent telcos, are simply
wrong, outdated, or irrelevant to the Tennessee project. Highlights
include:
-Only Fiber Systems Can Meet America’s Foreseeable Bandwidth Needs (p.
7).
Both ultra high-speed broadband and robust upstream connections are
essential.
-A review of incumbent providers (BellSouth, ComCast), showing that
they are not likely to meet future bandwidth needs (p. 11).
-Examples of Successful Municipal Fiber Projects (p. 16).
-A Closer Look At So-Called “Failures” (p. 19).
Overall, this report can help readers to understand arguments against
public FTTU projects, and refute them.
