Laissez le fiber roulez

David Isenberg posts regarding the battle over municipal broadband network in Lafayette, Louisiana -- something like the Battle for New Orleans without Andrew Jackson, but with more lobbyists. The post -- complete with a snide and gratuitous aside about this august institution -- asks a question:

Does the government have the right to say what sectors of a community should be served? He proceeds that if you answer the question in the affirmative, that the government can then dictate service areas (presumably through franchise agreements, as it does with cable, or public utility regulation, as it does with telephony), or build it itself. If the answer is no, he claims then that democracy is lost and that path leads to the vicious cycle of a digital divide. (This may be a slightly uncharitable recounting, but then again I am accused of being an ILEC zombie, so my false consciousness probably clouds my thinking.)

To Mr. Isenberg, then, municipalization is a valid expression of universal service policy. I suppose it is, but one with a rather spotty track record and thus warranting skepticism.

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