In Massachusetts and Idaho, two different conservative think tanks launched attacks on public broadband within the last month. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) and the Mountain States Policy Center published op-eds opposing community broadband networks in Cape Cod, MA, and Eagle, ID. Neither TPA nor the Mountain States Policy Center discloses any sources of financial support on their websites.
Gigi Sohn, Executive Director of AAPB released the following statement:
To paraphrase Ronald Reagan: “There they go again!” As public broadband gains popularity in communities across the country, dark money-fueled misinformation campaigns are once again at work. The dark-money groups are recycling the same tired arguments that large incumbent cable and broadband providers have been making for over 20 years and which have been repeatedly debunked. These latest attacks follow a familiar nationwide pattern, aiming to slow the momentum toward communities adopting publicly-owned broadband networks.
The groups roll out outdated claims, insisting that public broadband networks are failures. Yet they ignore that the vast majority of community broadband networks are thriving, including two of the oldest and most successful public networks in Idaho Falls and Ammon Idaho. They also argue that it’s unfair for so-called “private networks” to compete with “government-funded” networks. This is laughable. Every single one of the largest broadband providers has taken millions and in some cases, billions of state and federal dollars. And they are all champing at the bit for a piece of the $42.5 billion in BEAD funding that the states and territories will soon distribute.
A recent survey by US News and World Report showed that broadband prices continued to rise, frustrating consumers already concerned with higher prices for other necessities. The high price of broadband and the tendency of large incumbents to cherry pick the wealthiest neighborhoods are just two of the reasons over 700 communities have chosen public broadband and hundreds more are considering doing the same.
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Aaron Alberico
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