Community Broadband Dominates List of Fastest US ISPs
DannyB writes:
Community Broadband Dominates List Of Fastest US ISPs
For years, a growing number of US towns and cities have been forced into the broadband business thanks to US telecom market failure. Frustrated by high prices, lack of competition, spotty coverage, and terrible customer service, some 750 US towns and cities have explored some kind of community broadband option. And while the telecom industry (and the lawmakers, regulators, and policy wonks paid to love them) routinely tries to paint such projects as radical socialist boondoggles that always end in failure, that's never actually been true.
The latest case in point: once a year PC Magazine offers a breakdown of the fastest broadband networks in the United States. And this year, as usual, the list is dominated by community-owned and operated broadband networks.
Three of the fastest ISPs are directly owned by the city (Longmont, Colorado's Nextlight, Chattanooga, Tennessee's EPB Fiber, and Cedar Falls, Iowa's CFU). These same ISPs, not coincidentally, also tend to score really well on overall consumer satisfaction studies. And the fastest ISP in the country (Empire Access) makes heavy use of an open access middle mile fiber network funded in large part by the public.
How about: build the bestest, fastest, cheapest, big-dumb-pipe for the best consumer price possible while making a profit.
See also:PC Magazine: The Fastest ISPs of 2021
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.