A flurry of press releases about ATT and GigaBroadband in the past month.
AT&T and Town of Cary Reach Agreement to Deploy Up to 1 Gigabit Network
AT&T and City of Raleigh Reach Agreement to Deploy Up to 1 Gigabit Network
“The agreement stemmed from a North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN) initiative. The NCNGN is comprised of six cities, four leading universities, and local business leaders working to encourage development of high-speed broadband networks in the state.” This after the state signed a bill preventing any more muni broadband networks like Wilson’s Green Light. There is also a couple of public-private fiber networks that run around the state of NC.
“U-Verse with GigaPower – currently approved in Durham and Winston-Salem, and pending ratification in three other North Carolina areas – Carrboro, Cary, and Chapel Hill.” Ratification??? Is there state money going into this? How is state credits and incentives to a private company really different than a muni network? Except that it is state sponsored winner picking.
I think in the race for jobs and re-election, politicians have forgotten that corporations will do what is best for profit despite incentives. Let’s also not forget that the ILEC gets rate increases based on expanding broadband. Where’s that money go?
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