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Last night’s presentation was a good update. BPW gave an update on the Downtown project and then talked about expansion to the rest of the city.
The big barrier to fiber is that the bulk of the cost is up-front. For-profit companies have trouble footing the bill, because it takes too long to turn a profit. That’s why we want our public utility to do it.
BPW proposed “ubiquitous” expansion, meaning they’d run fiber to every house in a neighborhood. That is cheaper and more efficient to build. Installers come to a block one time, not every time someone signs up.
To pay for it, BPW modeled three options:
A group of customers in an area (likely multiple blocks) commit to signing up for service at $85/month. Once enough houses (~23%) have commited, the project gets built. This is very similar to the downtown project, and the same monthly rate.
Like BPW would do with a water line to a new subdivision, assess all properties for the build cost. You’d pay $13/month on your tax bill for 20 years, and $41/month for internet service.
The bottom line: Gigabit service for $54/month!
Rather than special assessment, use a millage to cover the entire city. BPW suggested a 20-year millage of 1.9 mills.
For reference, a couple recently passed millages: Aquatic Center 1.25 mills, Herrick District Library 1.5 mills.
The meeting’s outcome was to move toward a Task Force. Both City Council and the BPW Board were encouraging. They suggested staff should move quickly. Logistically, putting together a Task Force will likely take a couple months. That feels slow, but is fast for government.
For any of these pricing models to work, we need to engage the community. Either to get enough neighbors to sign up, or to support an assessment or millage.
So what do you think? Is there enough interest in the city? Is it politically feasible to do special assessments or a city-wide millage?
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I would support 1.9 mills or a monthly charge; my family surely would get more for less than I’m paying Comcast/Xfinity/…
Sounds good but will this be available to people living in apartment complexes? If not, they’re missing out on a large segment of the local population and an even larger potential monetary gain.
Greg, absolutely! Downtown apartments are already benefitting.
Would this be for the city only, or would it include outlying areas such as Park Township? Tired of having to alternate between sucky AT&T and sucky Charter.
fdhtbdfhg, the conversation last night was specific to the City, but the townships could use any of the same models. Costs to build might be a bit more, but they’re a good guide.
Downtown Hudsonville is already using the Demand Aggregation model to get BPW fiber.
Any of the options seems reasonable to me. #2 and #3 seem the “fairest” in that all properties (even non-subscribers) benefit from the new infrastructure. This can’t come soon enough, IMO.
Are there any studies on how much this sort of infrastructure affects property values?
Aaron, one study says fiber raises property values more than 3%!
Sign me up! 1.9 mills is the choice for me!
Park Township Northside PLEASE
Demand Aggregation is the most ethically sound means.
I want a fiber option not owned by comcast, but I also do not want to force others to pay for it. Special assessments would require some of my neighbors to pay $13/mo even if they can’t afford or don’t want the $41/mo for the service. Rising property values are a possibility, but not guaranteed. You’d have to sell and move away or open a new line of credit to take advantage of it. They also do nothing to help renters.
A millage would have similar effects, but on an even wider scale.
I’d vote for a milliage. Time for the entirety of Holland to get fiber. Once it’s available, it’ll catch on a lot quicker. As a side benefit, Comcast and ATT will most likely lower their rates in order to stay competitive. That seems to be the effect in any community where fiber (typically google fiber) is made available. That should help offset the cost for those who don’t move to fiber.
I’d vote for a milliage. Time for the entirety of Holland to get fiber. Once it’s available, it’ll catch on a lot quicker. As a side benefit, Comcast and ATT will most likely lower their rates in order to stay competitive. That seems to be the effect in any community where fiber (typically google fiber) is made available. That should help offset the cost for those who don’t move to fiber.
This NEEDS to be available to all of the north side of Holland. I’m paying more from Spectrum for less, and would love a combined/discounted bill for internet + electricity.
This NEEDS to be available to all of the north side of Holland. I’m paying more from Spectrum for less, and would love a combined/discounted bill for internet + electricity.