[TriLUG] Fully OT: Time to leave TWCBC? was: Re: semi-OT: mail relaying broken for other time warner customers?

[Brian via TriLUG]

On 3/24/2015 1:12 PM, David Both via TriLUG wrote:

> But all of that said, I still am not not really happy because TW is in
> large part responsible for preventing municipal broadband like that in
> Wilson from spreading to other cities and towns in NC. I am waiting
> eagerly for Google so I can get significantly better bandwidth for less
> money.

In principle, I'm in favor of municipal broadband (and any form of 
competition in broadband service, municipal or not).

Unfortunately, a quick non-expert glance at Wilson's 2014 complete 
financial report 
(http://www.wilsonnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Complete-CAFR-Report-2014.pdf 
, starting at page 162) paints a picture of it being a losing 
proposition; though 2013 showed a net improvement in the form of debt 
reduction of about $750,000, 2014 showed a loss of ground of about 
$450,000.  It's too early to draw any solid conclusions, of course, but 
the outlook isn't good.  Whether lower-cost broadband is a justifiable 
$500k/yr municipal money sink is a matter for lawmakers and voters.