Gainesville to vote on Municipal Broadband Launch on Thursday
Press release from Connected Gainesville
On Thursday, June 16, the Gainesville City Commission will vote on whether to expand municipal broadband to residents and businesses in Gainesville. The proposal created by Magellan Advisors would bring a new, city-run internet option to over 5,000 residences, giving them access to gigabit-speed internet at a low rate.
The study proposes launching a “Fiber To The Home Pilot Project” that would cover neighborhoods east of 13th Street including Stephen Foster, Oakview, Duckpond, and North East Neighbors. Residents in those neighborhoods would then have internet options starting at $30 a month for 100 mbps symmetrical speeds, with a free option for low-income residents. Magellan Advisors estimates that the city would profit as much as $9.8 million from the system.
“This is going to be revolutionary for our city,” said Bryan Eastman, the founder of Connected Gainesville, a local group that advocates for broadband expansion. “The pandemic has shown that internet is not a luxury, it’s a necessity, and this pilot will be the first step in bridging our digital divide and creating a 21st-century economy for Gainesville.”
You can read the full study here.
Read the background of the municipal broadband push in Gainesville on Muninetworks Blog.
About Connected Gainesville
Connected Gainesville is a community initiative to bring high-speed, affordable, broadband internet to every person in our community. We believe internet is a necessity, not a luxury, and if Gainesville wants to become a 21st-century city we must be on the cutting edge of internet connectivity. Our goal is to improve our community’s economic competitiveness, solve the digital divide, and make Gainesville a fully connected city.
If the city could profit $9.8 million that means taxpayers will be paying $21 million.
Hope you liberal idiots are enjoying those high taxes. Just remember, every vote for one of these fiscally incompetent idiots is another vote for homelessness.
NF broadband, bought with stimulus funds was a disaster, and another, Fl Rural BB network took $24 million before bankrupting, WV just wasted $124 m on a non-working model. And really close DUNNELLON FL borrowed $8 million to start fiber and sold the scraps for $1 million a few years later due to it hemorrhaging money, almost causing a city bankruptcy. Fact.
https://amp.ocala.com/amp/31927866007
https://www.columbiacountyobserver.com/master_files/Florida_News_2014/14_1010_nfba_termination-bad-feelings-broke.html
https://www.govtech.com/network/what-went-wrong-floridas-rural-broadband-network-declares-bankruptcy.html?_amp=true
WV
https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2020/09/17/bankruptcy-blackouts-and-broken-promises/
All of these happened, factual muni cases and I’m sure there are a thousand or so in the US in the last 20 years.
Watch the words carefully, they will come back to haunt you. Citizens option to sign on and city would profit “as much as”. City, like many others won’t get near the participation to make one dime. Remember the idiot commissioners have always talked about free broadband. Customers will be mainly the poor who will not pay. In the end, we will have waited millions and still be in debt. Line up to say no!!!
I look forward to this program being extended to other unfashionable neighborhoods like the one that I live in, where our only option has been crappy slow and unreliable ATT DSL. Where do we sign up for the non-affirmative waiting list?
To make a PROFIT of nearly $10million in 3 years:
Say a 20 % profit (high estimate really), total sales would need to be $50 million. With some customers getting it free, and many paying only $30 month ($360 annually) probably and combined average rate of day $50 month if they are lucky, $600 annually for 3 years = $1,800 average sales per account over 3 years. If so, it would require 28,000 or more accounts to stay and pay for 3 years. Don’t think so!!! Reality: 10,000 free accounts, 8, 000 $30 accounts, and 5,000 $70 accounts. With lots of maintenance and customer service costs resulting in bankrupting the program, covered by city funds/ higher fees and taxes within 3 short years. Another massive failure brought to you by the dreams and lies of jobless wonders Poe, HayesShltos, and FB Ward!
(Alachua Chronicle: “This is going to be revolutionary for our city,” said Bryan Eastman, the founder of Connected Gainesville)
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The same Bryan Eastman that Alachua County Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. has endorsed in the 2022 Gainesville City Commission District 4 Election without explanation?
Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. (March 14, 2022):
“𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝘆𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘂𝗽 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.”
Their numbers look unrealistically low for construction costs with no stated contingency. Where are overheads (labor and O&M)? what about escalation? Do these guys even have a clue, or are they backing into a predetermined outcome?
Brian Eastman is a world-class idiot. He was a huge advocate for keeping GRU under control of the city commission instead of a private board. Look at how that has turned out. Let that skinny Gainesville beardo get a real job. Anybody that listens to Watson must have a big knucklebone for a brain.
District 4 commission candidate Bryan Eastman was also campaign manager for several commissioners. Priority area 1 includes some of District 4, notably the Duck Pond, hardly a poor neighborhood. He claims, ridiculously, that poor children’s entire lives will be damaged if they don’t have Grucom instead of, say, Cox nearly free internet. We had Grucom decades ago and got out of it and would never get into it again. Initial costs on p. 5 of the report are $136 million, and risks on p. 10 give every reason to drop this boondoggle once and for all. Government broadband has lost billions of public dollars. Here’s a link to the presentation. It’s up for discussion first item after 1 p.m., and unfortunately phone call-ins are no longer available, but for those who might want to comment in person at 1 p.m., there’s an early comment period. The link: https://gainesville.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=10954348&GUID=19E41C0D-85E8-4CEE-AF4E-50820510FADB
Cox will probably have to raise their prices/rates for everyone if the city cuts into their business. That seems like simple common sense to most of us here (but not to the boneheads on the commission).