by Dan Goodman

By some counts, more than 600 cities across the country have implemented or are considering municipal broadband systems. During the month of October, NLC?s National City Network (NCN) will focus on the experiences of some of these cities, as well as other telecommunications issues facing cities today.

Highlighting the month will be a Web seminar, on Oct. 18, hosted by expert panelists discussing their experiences with municipal broadband. In addition to the Web seminar, NCN will feature dozens of examples from its City Practices database, describing municipal broadband and other telecommunications projects. Analysis from American Public Works Association, The Brookings Institution and others provide additional information.

In December, the panelists from the Web seminar will discuss their experiences in a workshop at NLC?s Congress of Cities and Exposition in Reno, Nev., Dec. 5-9. NCN-TV will be on hand in Reno to provide video coverage of all keynote sessions and select workshops.

U.S. Faces Broadband Revolution
For decades until its breakup in 1984, AT&T was virtually the only big name in telecommunications. In just 20 years, the telephone giant has been split up and reconstituted as a ?triple play? ? a provider of voice, video and Internet services. This triple play is enabled by the rapid evolution of broadband infrastructure, which enables the transmission of information thousands of times faster than what was possible 10 years ago.

Many argue that broadband infrastructure and services are becoming critical to economic competitiveness, and that the U.S. is falling behind other countries. In theory, any endeavor that relies on the exchange of information can benefit from access to broadband. The ?Measuring Broadband?s Economic Impact? study, released by MIT economists in 2005, indicated more rapid growth in employment and business formation for communities that had broadband available than those without broadband.

Increasingly, cities have seen an opportunity to participate in this broadband revolution. In addition to taking advantage of economic development benefits associated with broadband, many cities want to ensure that all segments of their population are able to enjoy access to broadband services, something they fear won?t happen if it is left simply to market forces. Cities also see an opportunity to improve the quality and efficiency of city services.

Entering the world of broadband communications, some cities are confronted with challenges such as how much control to retain for city government and how much to share with the private sector; how to finance broadband build-outs; and which technology to choose.

Some headlines have highlighted large municipal wireless projects in San Francisco and Philadelphia, where city leaders hope to take the concept of the ?hot spot? and extend it citywide. Other cities like Loma Linda, Calif., have begun laying fiber optic cable.

This choice between wireless and fiber is one of the critical decisions cities face when considering municipal broadband. A wireless network can cost as little as 10 percent of the cost of a fiber network, according to Craig Settles, author of ?Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless: Applying Lessons from Philadelphia?s Wi-Fi Story? and a panelist in NCN?s Web seminar.

A wireless network can also enable mobile city applications, allowing police officers in the field, for example, to instantly access complete records from their cruisers or handheld devices. A fiber network can carry more information, and could be a better long-term solution for cities with sufficient financial resources, enabling data-intensive applications that haven?t even been invented yet. However, a fiber network on its own does not enable wireless applications.

NLC Addresses Telecom
Prior to the development of the Web seminar and the conference workshop, NLC has devoted considerable attention this year to proposed federal legislation that is intended to replace the Telecommunications Act of 1996. High on NLC?s agenda has been preservation of local control over rights of way, taxation and other matters that have traditionally been under the purview of local officials.

Details: To learn more about telecommunications month on NCN, visit www.nationalcitynetwork.org. For more information on the Congress of Cities, go to www.nlc.org.