Fort Collins, facing west (1875) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Apparently no one properly explained how the wholesale model could be the best option for Fort Collins. Using a wholesale model, the city can attract multiple service providers from local to regional carriers that could boost their utilization well over 30%. Another benefit is that they do not have to keep up the technology arms race that Comcast and CenturyLink will be sure to start. Their consultant really should provide them better advice on the wholesale option.
Kevin Duggan, [email protected]
Fort Collins residents love their internet. And like technology consumers everywhere, they want their connection to be fast, cheap and reliable.
City officials are well aware of those desires as they study various business models for providing municipal broadband telecommunication services. But they have other factors to consider, especially with potential costs hovering around $100 million.
At this point, city officials are “agnostic” about how high-speed internet service is brought to Fort Collins, said Mike Beckstead, the city’s chief financial officer, during a recent City Council meeting.
But they want to understand what they are getting into before making a formal recommendation to City Council and potentially city voters.
“We want to do that with an informed decision that fairly evaluates the risks because there are some significant risks in this,” Beckstead said.
