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<th nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">Subject:
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<td>A Community-Run ISP Is the Highest Rated Broadband
Company in America - Motherboard</td>
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<th nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">Date: </th>
<td>Wed, 15 Aug 2018 15:33:31 -0700</td>
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<th nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">From: </th>
<td>Eric Thompson <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:elt@pacbell.net"><elt@pacbell.net></a></td>
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<th nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">To: </th>
<td>Rob @omsoft.com <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:omrob@omsoft.com"><omrob@omsoft.com></a>, Steve McMahon
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:steve@dcn.org"><steve@dcn.org></a></td>
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<title>A Community-Run ISP Is the Highest Rated Broadband
Company in America - Motherboard</title>
<div class="original-url">FYI Eric T. </div>
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<a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ne5k5m/consumer-reports-broadband-company-ratings"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ne5k5m/consumer-reports-broadband-company-ratings</a><br>
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<h1 class="title" style="font-weight: bold; font-size:
1.95552em; line-height: 1.2141em; margin-top: 0px;
margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: start; -webkit-hyphens:
manual; display: block; max-width: 100%;">A Community-Run
ISP Is the Highest Rated Broadband Company in America</h1>
<h2 class="subhead" style="font-weight: normal; text-align:
start; -webkit-hyphens: manual; display: block; color:
rgba(27, 27, 27, 0.65098); font-size: 1.46664em;
margin-top: -0.35em; line-height: 1.27275em; max-width:
100%;">A Consumer Reports survey of 176,000 Americans
finds that small, locally owned ISPs are routinely ranked
higher than big telecom companies.
By Karl Bode
|
Aug 14 2018, 7:00am</h2>
<div class="leading-image" style="max-width: 100%;
margin-bottom: 1.15em; line-height: 1.5em; font-family:
-apple-system-font; font-size: 0.75rem; color: rgba(0, 0,
0, 0.8);"><img
data-src="https://video-images.vice.com/articles/5b72bf377dfe020006772768/lede/1534246798333-1477399710644806.jpeg?resize=720:*"
src="https://video-images.vice.com/articles/5b72bf377dfe020006772768/lede/1534246798333-1477399710644806.jpeg?crop=0.7822222222222223xw%3A1xh%3Bcenter%2Ccenter&resize=650%3A*&output-quality=55"
class="" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto; margin:
auto; display: block; clear: both;"
moz-do-not-send="true"></div>
<p style="max-width: 100%;"> It’s no surprise that Americans
<a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7xmxza/america-hates-comcast-more-than-ever"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">generally hate their ISPs</a>.
After all, companies like Comcast not only routinely abuse
a lack of competition to <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/nz7wjw/why-comcasts-data-caps-arent-about-fairness"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">drive up prices</a>, but they
often provide some of the <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7xmxza/america-hates-comcast-more-than-ever"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">worst customer service</a> in any
industry in America. That’s when they’re not busy <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvnx85/has-net-neutrality-been-repealed"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">happily killing net neutrality</a>
or <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xy7xnk/republicans-are-about-to-nuke-the-fccs-broadband-privacy-rules"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">lobbying for the death of</a>
other meaningful consumer protections. </p>
<p style="max-width: 100%;"> But in countless parts of the
country, consumers are increasingly turning to
community-run broadband networks as an alternative to this
cavalcade of dysfunction. <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a3np4a/new-municipal-broadband-map"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">More than 750 communities</a>
around the country have now either built their own
broadband networks or built local cooperatives in a quest
for better, cheaper service. </p>
<p style="max-width: 100%;"> A <a
href="https://www.consumerreports.org/phone-tv-internet-bundles/people-still-dont-like-their-cable-companies-telecom-survey/"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">new survey by <i
style="max-width: 100%;"> Consumer Reports</i></a>
once again highlights how consumers are responding
positively to this home-grown approach to better
broadband. <br style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
The organization surveyed 176,000 <i style="max-width:
100%;"> Consumer Reports</i> readers on their experience
with their pay TV and broadband providers, and found that
the lion’s share of Americans remain completely disgusted
with most large, incumbent operators. The full ratings are
paywalled but available <a
href="https://www.consumerreports.org/products/phone-tv-internet-bundles/ratings-overview/"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">here</a> to those with a Consumer
Reports subscription.</p>
<p style="max-width: 100%;"> All the usual suspects
including Comcast, Charter (Spectrum), AT&T, Verizon,
and Optimum once again fell toward the bottom of the
barrel in terms of overall satisfaction, reliability, and
value, largely mirroring similar studies from the <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7xmxza/america-hates-comcast-more-than-ever"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">American Customer Satisfaction
Index</a>. <br style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
One of the lone bright spots for broadband providers was <a
href="https://epb.com/" target="_blank" style="color:
rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration:
underline;" moz-do-not-send="true">Chattanooga’s EPB</a>,
a city-owned and utility operated broadband provider we <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ezpk77/chattanooga-gigabit-fiber-network"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">profiled several years back</a>
as an example of community broadband done well. The
outfit, which Comcast attempted unsuccessfully to <a
href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/10/10gbps-internet-offered-by-city-fighting-anti-muni-broadband-laws/"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">sue into oblivion</a>, was the <i
style="max-width: 100%;"> only ISP included in the study
that received positive ratings for value</i>. <br
style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
“EPB was the top internet service provider in our telecom
ratings two times in the past three years,” Christopher
Raymond, electronics editor at <i style="max-width:
100%;"> Consumer Reports</i> told Motherboard.<br
style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
“<i style="max-width: 100%;"> Consumer Reports</i> members
have given it high marks for not only reliability and
speed, but also overall value—and that's a rare
distinction in an arena dominated by the major cable
companies,” he said.<br style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
A major problem is that incumbent broadband providers have
gone to great lengths to nickel and dime subscribers with
a wide variety of <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/aekea4/all-in-internet-pricing-makes-more-sense-than-broadband-facts"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">spurious surcharges and bogus
fees</a>. Regulators have historically been apathetic to
this problem, which often involves making up entirely <a
href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170424/10470637222/comcast-under-fire-using-bullshit-fees-to-covertly-raise-rates.shtml"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">nonsensical fees</a>, then hiding
them below the line to pad the advertised rate post sale.
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
As a result, most broadband and cable TV subscribers often
have no idea what they’ll pay until they actually receive
their first bill. To that end, Consumer Reports has been
waging a new campaign dubbed <a
href="https://action.consumerreports.org/whatthefee"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">What the Fee!?</a> aimed at
holding cable TV providers and ISPs accountable for what’s
effectively false advertising. <br style="max-width:
100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
Raymond told me most municipal broadband providers are
often too small to include in the organization’s rankings.
That said, other studies have supported the idea that
municipal broadband providers are more likely to offer
better, cheaper service free of obnoxious surcharges and
quickly-evaporating promotional savings. </p>
<p style="max-width: 100%;"> For example, a <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d345pv/harvard-study-shows-why-big-telecom-is-terrified-of-community-run-broadband"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">recent Harvard study</a> found
that community-owned broadband networks provide consumers
with significantly lower rates than their private-sector
counterparts. That’s often because these ISPs have a
vested interest in the communities they serve that extends
beyond extracting monopoly rents from captive subscribers.<br
style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
“Almost all community-owned networks offered prices that
were clear and unchanging, whereas private ISPs typically
charged initial low promotional or 'teaser' rates that
later sharply rose, usually after 12 months,” the
researchers said.<br style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
So why haven’t more towns and cities building their own
broadband networks? <br style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
As EPB and other municipal providers have found out, ISPs
are often <a
href="https://www.deseretnews.com/article/600138445/Qwest-is-suing-UTOPIA.html"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">quick to sue such operations</a>
in the hopes of putting them in a deep financial hole
right out of the gate. More than <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qkvn4x/the-21-laws-states-use-to-crush-broadband-competition"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">21 states have also passed
protectionist laws</a>—often <a
href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150415/10482230664/alec-threatens-to-sue-critics-that-point-out-it-helps-keep-broadband-uncompetitive.shtml"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">quite literally written by ISP
lobbyists</a>—banning towns and cities from exploring
the option. <br style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
That’s not to say that building your own broadband network
will be an automatic success story. Municipal broadband is
like any other business model, and depends entirely on the
quality of those crafting them and the financing that’s
available. <br style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
That said, the multi-decade effort by ISPs like AT&T,
CenturyLink and Comcast to take the right of
self-determination away from local communities only
highlights how terrified incumbent ISPs are of these
communities taking matters into their own hands. <br
style="max-width: 100%;">
<br style="max-width: 100%;">
Fortunately, efforts to roll back these protectionist laws
have gained traction in <a
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmzw5y/colorado-municipal-broadband-vote-2017"
target="_blank" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210);
max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">states like Colorado</a>. And as
Trump-era attacks on consumer protections like net
neutrality gain steam, it only advertises how
community-run broadband can be a faster, cheaper, and more
transparent alternative to Comcast. </p>
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