nwspmp said:

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BrazosWifi said:

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nwspmp said:

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Maybe a new player in the near future? BTU

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I am hopeful the course forward with COCS and COB is that they lessen the regulatory hurdles to deploying broadband instead of creating a municipal monopoly that isn't commercially viable.

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Well, if I recall correctly, currently the law in Texas directly prohibits a municipal utility from directly owning an ISP and offering services directly. They'd have to partner with an ISP, and essentially be the financial backing/labor backing were they to do so.


Do you think that the cost prohibitions in deploying in-city are more regulatory redtape sourced or the actual cost of putting the wireline/hardware in?

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BrazosWifi said:

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nwspmp said:

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BrazosWifi said:

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nwspmp said:

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Maybe a new player in the near future? BTU

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I am hopeful the course forward with COCS and COB is that they lessen the regulatory hurdles to deploying broadband instead of creating a municipal monopoly that isn't commercially viable.

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Well, if I recall correctly, currently the law in Texas directly prohibits a municipal utility from directly owning an ISP and offering services directly. They'd have to partner with an ISP, and essentially be the financial backing/labor backing were they to do so.


Do you think that the cost prohibitions in deploying in-city are more regulatory redtape sourced or the actual cost of putting the wireline/hardware in?

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Unless State law has changed, you are correct. Although there are loopholes. The Utility can own the fiber and lease it to a wholly owned subsidiary that acts as the ISP.

In my experience, red tape makes the playing field unpredictable. If we KNEW that the costs would be $X per pole, we could plan for that and proceed. But as it is now, we have to do all the engineering upfront, pole surveys, and paperwork before BTU decides that we need to replace dozens of poles driving the costs beyond reasonable.

When cities rolled out the red carpet for Google Fiber, they said: "Bring fiber, we will remove the barriers". If the cities did that here, you bet there would be competition.

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