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Broadband Access Diagram

Category:  Leadership > Champions & Change Agents

I wanted to add on to the previous post on Broadband Access (here), so decided that a picture is worth a thousand words. In graphic form, the Broadband Access Model looks something like this.

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The percentages of cost recovery will vary from city to city, so these ratios are just used as an example. The bottom line is it takes a long time to make up the cost of the network if the only resource is bringing more efficiency to city government - which is a significant shortcoming of the Public Private Partner Anchor Tenant Model (privately owned). In short, that route may well prove insufficient.

That's where the revenue piece comes in. By owning the network, a city can recover costs more rapidly by adding in a revenue component. The city is the most likely owner to open the network up to all parties, including the current broadband providers in the city.

Operating as a community resource has the effect of providing a complementary service to all citizens, making an asset available that would otherwise not get built. And it spreads the costs over the widest possible base and in so doing, recovers the costs as rapidly as possible, making the project less risky. These networks become quite feasible if operated as a community project that all get behind. And therein lies the challenge, but it is a challenge that can be accomplished if the community is sufficiently motivated.

Posted on January 21, 2008 at 07:16 AM

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