Read my latest Heartland Budget & Tax article, Portland, Maine Lawmakers Dial Up Taxpayer-Funded Internet.
See how municipalities expanding broadband to the public might not be such a great thing and how nearly all ventures like this have ended up being very, very costly.
Excerpt:
Lawmakers in Portland, Maine are proposing the creation of a taxpayer-funded Internet service, an “open access fiber network” for residents, by expanding existing government networks to cover the entire city.
Repeating History
Steve Pociask, president of the American Consumer Institute, says taxpayer-funded Internet service leads to higher tax bills.
“I think the thing that consumers need to know, is that when you look at all the empirical evidence, time and time again the public provision of private goods such as broadband services seems to lead to unprofitable operations,” Pociask said. “When that happens, that means they push to recover the losses to taxpayers or other public services. As some examples, you’ll see fees attached to your water or your electricity or other municipal fees or to bonds. So, rarely are these things even close to profitable.”
Read the rest at Heartland.
