Broadband heading down the wrong path?

I understand that not everyone agrees on the role of government. However, why is that the government in this Country owns and operates most of our transportation infrastructure but not our broadband infrastructure? The government has built and operates the highways in this Country, but they do not own or operate the vehicles that transport freight and passengers on the interstate highway system. The government owns and operates the infrastructure of the airways, but they do not own or operate the freight and passenger planes that use the airports and air space. The government has built many ports and locks and dam systems throughout the nation for the transportation of goods, and for recreation on our public waterways. The government pays for the operation and maintenance of these waterways but not for the operation of the private vessels that use the waterways.

What would the highway system look like if we had required Swift, JB Hunt, Werner Enterprises, and Schneider National to all build their own proprietary road systems to accommodate their trucks? What would the highway system look like if we had planned highways without a map? And yet, this is almost exactly how we are approaching the build out of broadband across this country.

Each broadband provider in this country is building their own proprietary broadband networks (wired and wireless), and touting their services based on the “superiority” of their networks. Nobody has a map showing where these duplicative networks lie. Few of the providers are willing to share those maps so that the government can serve those left behind by the private sector.

If the privatized model of broadband was catapulting the U.S. ahead of the rest of the world, one could make an argument for the model we have. However, we are falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to broadband connectivity.

What would broadband in the U.S. look like if the government owned and operated the entire fiber backbone network or operated it jointly through a public/private partnership, and allowed the private sector to compete over that network based on the superiority of their products and services? Talk amongst yourselves.