There are many options for our communities to become Gigabit Cities. One option is to establish a public-private partnership between the municipal government and a fiber network operator. According to Smithville Communications and City of Jasper Embark on Gigabit Public-Private Partnership in Telecompetitor, many “government and economic development leaders are quickly equating economic development and community competitiveness with the ability to offer gigabit services.”
You have already heard that America has fallen behind many other countries in terms of average broadband speeds, unless you have been living under a stone the last few years. According to the Ookla Net Index, as of October 16, 2014, the United States ranked 27th with an average broadband download speed of 30.2mbps.
Mounting public pressure has moved Verizon to change their mind about throttling speeds for their unlimited data plan mobile customers. There has been quite a bit of press related to poor customer satisfaction and even public letters between Verizon and the FCC regarding the data throttling announcement.
