IP Democracy: Yankee Group on Munis: Phased Approach Works Best

Telephony’s Carol Wilson summarizes the conclusions of a new report on municipal broadband by Yankee Group analyst Tara Howard:

“Incumbent providers have yet to develop a profitable model for expanding their networks into rural areas, leaving communities to feel the pressures of the digital divide,” Howard said. But building out a network so quickly that its capacity exceeds local demand can create an unnecessary financial burden on the community, she stated.

The remedy is to take a phased approach that starts by connecting local government facilities for internal communications and then gradually extends the reach of the network into the community, beginning with local businesses.

Posted by Mitch Shapiro on August 8, 2005 10:58 PM to IP Democracy