BROADBAND DELIVERY MODELS

THREE MODELS

• Private Sector

• Municipal

• Public/Private Partnership

PRIVATE SECTOR

• Return on investment driven

o Infrastructure investments

o Types of services

o Price

• Competition for services in urban and suburban - lower cost

• Limited service at higher cost in rural and central cities

PRIVATE SECTOR – CLOSED NETWORK

• Service provider focused - Network owner/operator determines bandwidth offerings

• Owner/operator determines what services will be offered (ISP, VOIP, Video)

• Connection cost based on amount of bandwidth - higher bandwidth = higher cost

MUNICIPAL MODEL

• Government owned –

o Single Municipality - Normally only found in municipalities that have existing electric or phone utilities

o Regional Authority (Utopia, Iron Range)

• Middle mile provider to public anchor institutions

MUNICIPAL MODEL

Pros

o Provider of last resort in underserved areas

o Leverage existing resources

Cons

o Private sector resistance to competition

o Incumbent pressure to legislate against municipal delivery of broadband

o Political and capital risk associated with starting a new government enterprise

o Service area geographically limited

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

• Government represents public

• Right of way in exchange for expanded service and upgraded services

• Private sector owns and operates the network infrastructure and the customer

• Pros: Improved service

• Cons: Service limited by municipal boundaries; Closed network

OPEN ACCESSPUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

• Private non-profit represents public

• Public entities participate as members

• Private sector owns, operates the network and delivers services

• Non-profit owns the customer

• Pros:

o Community drives availability of network services

o Operator Independent Network – lower cost of entry of service providers

OPERATOR INDEPENDENT NETWORKS

• Consumer focused – Consumer chooses services and providers

• Network ownership and operation separate from services (may be private or public)

• Private sector delivers services (IP, VOIP, video, accounting, remote monitoring, video teleconferencing, remote back-up etc.)

Southern Rural Development Center

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

WWW.CONNECTINGCOMMUNITIES.INFO