I have been mayor of Creedmoor, North Carolina since 1999. Our wonderful small town has undergone some remarkable changes in that time. We’ve improved public safety, promoted community and economic development and protected our natural resources.
These accomplishments didn’t happen because of me, or the city council. It’s the result of the commitment of the hardworking men and women of this town and our ability to work together – not against each other – for change. Our businesses are creating jobs, neighborhoods are rebuilding and our downtown continues to develop. That is why I believe we must continue to have a cooperative mentality in Creedmoor, especially when it comes to broadband development.
When I became mayor 16 years ago, the Internet was just becoming a way of life. Some of us were still just figuring out how to use email; building an e-commerce website wasn’t even a dream. Our computers sat on our desks – we didn’t carry them into meetings, into classrooms, or to the park as so many of us now do with our smartphones.
Our lives online have changed and that’s because of the $1.4 trillion (that’s trillion with a “t”) that private sector Internet Service Providers (ISPs) invested into the broadband infrastructure of this great nation. In 1999, only a handful of Americans had access to high-speed broadband at home; today 98 percent of us do.
When Congress wrote the nation’s Internet law back in the 1990s they wanted to government to take a relatively hands off approach. The idea was that if government set the right policies, broadband infrastructure would get built. I don’t say this very often: but Washington was right. If Congress had tried to build our broadband infrastructure itself, that bill still might be waiting to get passed.
When it comes to broadband, government’s job – whether it’s local, state or federal government – should be to set the right policies and get out of the way. We should make our permitting process easier so more ISPs want to invest in our cities and towns, we should give them better access to existing infrastructure and we should break down other regulatory barriers and lower fees. These policies will result in more ISPs investing here. More broadband providers mean more choices for residents – and ultimately better outcomes since old-fashioned American competition drives down prices.
Unfortunately, too many mayors across North Carolina and the rest of our country have taken another approach. They have invested millions of dollars in broadband systems the government will own. I think that approach is unwise for two reasons: first, I’m unclear why any mayor would take on millions of dollars in debt to build infrastructure the private sector has the money, knowledge and desire to build. We’re struggling to improve our parks, our roads and our emergency response systems. Creedmoor can’t afford to also duplicate the work the private sector is doing.
Second, I think building a network sends the wrong message to private ISPs. Instead of telling them Creedmoor is a place where the public and private sectors work together for change, it sends the message that they should not bother investing here because the government is going to do its best to beat you at the broadband game. It says: we don’t want to be your partner in the 21st century economy, we want to be your competitor.
Perhaps that message, and the diminished investment that would result from it, would be worth it if local governments had a good track record running these networks, but they don’t. Government broadband networks rarely make a profit and they generally don’t offer better prices to consumers. One Utah network was ultimately sold for $1 – to Google.
Creedmoor has succeeded over the last 16 years because we try to work with businesses in our community. I want better, faster and more reliable broadband service for residents, but I won’t put them into debt to do something the private sector should. City hall shouldn’t compete against private job creators – and we won’t – but we’ll be their best partner.
