Powell’s network broke even in 18 months and has operated profitably ever since.

“In selecting a city, our goal was to find a location where we could build efficiently, make an impact on the community, and develop relationships with local government and community organizations,” Google wrote.

Adopting the article allows the town to join the WiredWest Cooperative and means that Florida will have a voice in the decision-making process as the nonprofit undertakes the capitalization, buildout and operation of a municipal fiber-optic network in participating towns.

The number of new subscribers to VDSL-based broadband services will almost quadruple by 2014 as more competitors start to ramp up their support for the technology, according to reports from IHS iSuppli. The number of new annual VDSL subscriber additions worldwide are expected to grow to 60.1mn in 2014, up from just 15.6mn in 2009.  [...]

Paris said he would like to see public-private partnerships that could end cable companies’ repeated efforts to restrict municipal broadband networks.

A battle over the right of municipalities to offer broadband services has erupted for the fifth time in four years in the North Carolina State Legislature.

Such is the posture Martin County commissioners should take toward the possibility of commercializing the county’s soon-to-be-installed broadband network.