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story category Fiber Fueled Salvation
The impact of fiber builds on local economies
(old news - 10:06AM Thursday Dec 28 2006)
tags: Fiber · business
We've long discussed how many communities think that building a fiber network will act as an economic panacea for their struggling economies. The town of South Dundas in Canada spent $975,000 to build and maintain a fiber network, resulting in 62.5 new jobs, $2.1 million in commercial expansion and $105,000 in increased regional revenues and cost savings. Laying 800 miles of fiber in Southwest Virginia (thanks in part to Tobacco settlement money) lured two major companies to the region and 1,500 jobs. Killer App also explores how the small city of Jackson, Tennessee, has been competitive thanks to their own fiber.

Related:
  1. Powell Completes FTTH Build
  2. What Network Neutrality Is REALLY About
  3. Who Knew? Home-Rolled Fiber Lowers Cable Rates
  4. 5.3 Million North America Fiber Customers
  5. TDS Telecom Launches 50 Mbps Fiber
  6. Verizon's FioS Deployment Enters A New Chapter
  7. Why Run Fiber When You Can Run Ads That Pretend You Do?
  8. British Telecom Losing Its Fiber Phobia?
Forums » Fiber Fueled Salvation
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Post a:
brianiscool

join:2000-08-16
Miami, FL

got an idea

Why not add a Fiber Tax for everyone so we can get Fiber installed everywhere!
Biskit

join:2003-02-07
Fenton, MO

Re: got an idea

Yeah thats it, lets add another tax so that the few people who might actually use the full bandwidth of that fiber connection can get it faster than what they are currently and they can stop whining........Hell while we are are at it why not add one for a new PC, to re-wire your house, because that sub-standard 2pr inside wiring isnt going to cut it, and maybe throw in an Ipod for your future music downloads........

Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL
clubs:
·Embarq


1 edit
said by brianiscool See Profile :

Why not add a Fiber Tax for everyone so we can get Fiber installed everywhere!
Can of worms. That's why.
It would be nice, but isn't one of those things that benefits everyone, like sidewalks and roads.

Edit:
Ack, I didn't notice this is a brianiscool See Profile thread. Get me out! Get me out!
soccerguy

join:2004-06-28
Seattle, WA

Re: got an idea

If the resulting fiber installation lowers cable and phone prices by opening up the community to true competition, doesn't then everyone win?
Jamuka

join:2005-06-06
Yea so we can have another tax last for 100 YEARS. It would be ok as long as when ALL the fiber was finally installed the tax would be repealed, but we know that never happens just like paying for the Spanish-American War has never gone away.

kyramilan

join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL

Umm, how about moving to Canada and finding out the tax rates are ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!

Why do you think Canadians sneak across the border to buy gas and cigarettes and beer? It's 1/3 the price!

GOLFnSUN
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast

The problem with deals like this one, where a town taxes to add infrastructure to bring in more jobs, is that all it often does is MOVE jobs from 1 place to another within a region or within a country. It does not add any net benefit to the economy of the region or country. Only when new infrastructure lowers the cost enough to become meaningful in the global economy is it worth doing.
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richardpor
Fur it up

join:2003-04-19
Portland, OR


2 edits

Not the case

This is a typical broken window fallacy. If the town tax and spends on infrastructure the result always is economic growth. The problem is often taxes takes money that could have been better invested by business. Furthermore, I see the so call investment in muni fiber is directed towards residential broadband. IF this principal was true, we should see growth also in Tacoma Washington and Ashland Oregon both created municipal broadband networks. Both economies are stagnant.

The reason these small towns are attractive is low tax base and less regulation. Let not forget many companies can get accesses to fiber networks in many metropolitan areas from the telecoms. There must be other reasons.

Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..

Easy

High Technology at a Low Cost + Low Cost of Living = Low Worker Wages

Perfect for call centers and such, which is why you NEVER see call centers in major metropolitan areas.

$12 a hour in BFE, Kansas where you can buy a house for $50,000 is adequate, but try living in any of the top 50 metro areas for that.
--
Use the OS tool for the job.

HotRodFoto
Premium
join:2003-04-19
Denver, CO

Re: Easy

said by Matt See Profile :

High Technology at a Low Cost + Low Cost of Living = Low Worker Wages

Perfect for call centers and such, which is why you NEVER see call centers in major metropolitan areas.

$12 a hour in BFE, Kansas where you can buy a house for $50,000 is adequate, but try living in any of the top 50 metro areas for that.
Yes you do. Comcast has one of their national call centers located in Denver. Its for all services that they offer, my job interview is with them Friday
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AmnChode
Premium
join:2001-03-27
San Antonio, TX

2 edits
quote:
Perfect for call centers and such, which is why you NEVER see call centers in major metropolitan areas.
I beg to differ. San Antonio is full of call centers with more planning to come.

inteller
Sociopaths always win.

join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

said by Matt See Profile :

Perfect for call centers and such, which is why you NEVER see call centers in major metropolitan areas.

wow, that was a stupid comment, Tulsa is like the call center capital of the US.
--
"WHEN THE LAUGH TRACK STARTS THEN THE FUN STARTS!"

Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..

Re: Easy

said by inteller See Profile :

said by Matt See Profile :

Perfect for call centers and such, which is why you NEVER see call centers in major metropolitan areas.

wow, that was a stupid comment, Tulsa is like the call center capital of the US.
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa,_Oklahoma

It's also only the 45th largest metro area with an average median family income of $35k/year with a per-capita income of about $21k.

Perfect call center land. 2080 work hours in a year divided by $21,000 = $10/hr.

I'd say my comment was right on the mark for Tulsa. Perhaps not for Denver/San Antonio, but there are always exceptions to the rule.
--
Use the OS tool for the job.

cdigioia
Premium
join:2005-06-08
korea, repub
·Korea Telecom

Re: Easy

said by Matt See Profile :

Perfect for call centers and such, which is why you NEVER see call centers in major metropolitan areas.

How about: I think you're probably right, except that only applies on the east & west coast. Further inland, the cost of living is pretty low in even the large cities.

cdigioia
Premium
join:2005-06-08
korea, repub
·Korea Telecom

said by Matt See Profile :

Perfect for call centers and such, which is why you NEVER see call centers in major metropolitan areas.

I think you're probably right, except that only applies on the east & west coast. Further inland, the cost of living is pretty low in even the large cities.
RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Tulsa is a major metropolitan area?
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.

verolom

join:2002-03-23
Eagleville, PA
·Comcast

The Sooner the Better

From a more global perspective such a positive impact would be noticeable as long as the communities deploying fiber gain a competitive advantage. So the sooner fiber is deployed the greater advantage it would produce. The question is then how much of that growth is infused from outside and how much it is "homegrown".

Having fiber though is only a tiny bit of the equation. Equipping it and running it properly is a whole other story. Cable is a perfect example. We have a broadband "pipe" into out homes, but we don't have an operating entity in most cases willing to deploy the full capabilities of that link. Finding the trade-off between a profit-making, penny-counting selfish entity and a corrupt, inefficient, but by definition more benevolent one remains the challenge, not the fiber itself.

Yauch

join:2005-06-24

Well Done

I've talked a lot of smack about Muni networks on these threads, but I have to admit South Dundas and Bristol are two great examples of how to do a Muni network right. $1 million is a very reasonable number to build a network to boost the local economy and Bristol built it without any public funds. Now if I could just figure out why my community is spending 25 times as much to build a FTTH network in a town 60% larger.

gatorkram
Spelling and Grammer impared
Premium
join:2002-07-22
Winterville, NC
clubs:
·Embarq
·linode

The funny thing is

When you start talking about wanting to build a fiber network, and you start talking about tax money, a lot of the people on this site freak out.

I can tell you this much, our tax money has been, and will always be, spent on much dumber things than a nationwide fiber network. At least if we spent money to roll out a fiber to the home network, across the whole country, at the end, we would have something worthwhile to show for it.

Even if it cost trillions of dollars....
--
Give me bandwidth or give me death!
squid7
Premium
join:2006-09-02

"resulting in 62.5 new jobs"

What is 1/2 a job?

wmrt

@verizon.net

Re: "resulting in 62.5 new jobs"

.1 job is walmart at around minimum wage
.5 are ones illegal immigrants get paid more for,
while the loyal hard working american gets screwed every time plus no health benefits
Mike9561

join:2006-09-19
Hamilton, ON
said by squid7 See Profile :

What is 1/2 a job?
Part time?
Forums » Fiber Fueled Salvation


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