Community Ownership

Network Ownership is a key question when considering a network.

Owners make the key decisions. Will the network be open to multiple competitors at a non-discriminatory rate or will it be a monopoly? Will all traffic on the network be treated the same or will some traffic be disrupted to benefit the owner's business plan?

The regulatory environment does not allow the community to make the rules that govern the information networks on which they depend. The high cost of building these systems prevents true competition or a functioning market; communities have found themselves at the mercy of monopolistic providers who are unaccountable to the community.

When the community owns the network, it can shape its digital destiny. St. Paul is mostly served by two large, remote companies, Qwest and Comcast. Both are publicly traded, national companies that are required to maximize profits for their shareholders. This means that as a matter of law, neither can do what is best for St. Paul when it conflicts with making more money for shareholders.

Communities across the United States, indeed the entire developed world, are investing in tomorrow's information networks, but St. Paul is being left behind. Though both Qwest and Comcast have recently increased their speeds locally, the prices are prohibitive and the upload speeds pathetic (1 Mbps from Qwest's best and "up to" 5 Mbps for $150/month from Comcast).

If we want to keep pace with the world, we need to build it ourselves.

St. Paul residents and businesses have few choices for broadband. Comcast offers cable and Qwest offers DSL services. Some local companies, like IP House, offer services, using Qwest's network but Qwest has been trying to raise their prices and reduce competition. A community fiber network can be open to all competitors on equal terms. This will guarantee local, trusted service providers will be able to continue offering services as Qwest pushes them out. Most importantly, it means actual choice and competition in broadband, something we will not have without a community fiber network.

Community networks have proven to offer great services at competitive prices, advancing communities and keeping money circulating locally rather than heading across the country in the form of corporate profits.

Not only will a fast, affordable network help with economic development, it will create local jobs because the St. Paul Community Fiber Network will not outsource support needs. When you have problems, you will call someone locally for help.

We frequently use terms like community ownership and public ownership to make the same point. The rules that govern the network must be subject to democratic control in order to ensure a community's self-determination. Those running the network must be accountable to the public.

Some have denigrated public ownership, asking why government should get involved in this area. They have compared it to government-run supermarkets. The correct response to this analogy is that if a community has no supermarkets, or if the existing supermarkets have decided to charge prohibitive prices for basic staples merely to extract monopoly profits, then government absolutely needs to get involved. Governments are accountable to the public, private companies are not.

We have republished some comments from Andrea Casselton, St. Paul's Director of Technology and Communications, that address the question of public infrastructure and private companies.

Christopher Mitchell discussed ownership questions in this 20 minute discussion with Geoff Daily of App-Rising.com.