THE PROBLEM

  • Digital Equity - Virtually every high income household in Cambridge has broadband. Only 50% of low income households have broadband.

  • Monopoly - Most people are limited to one option for broadband.

  • Expensive - A Harvard study has shown that municipal broadband is less expensive than commercial broadband and that municipal pricing is straightforward and easy to understand (no teaser pricing and confusing bundles).

  • Customer Service - Comcast is consistently rated worst in the entire country. Consumer Reports has found that some of the most loved ISPs are municipal systems.

  • Privacy - Commercial ISPs want to sell your browsing data. A municipal system won’t.

  • Transit - Cambridge has a transit crisis--municipal internet will make remote work more effective.

  • Competitive Requirement - In the city where the internet was invented we don’t have a reliable fast and affordable network infrastructure.

  • Reliability - The current infrastructure frequently breaks down. Reliable internet access is necessary for working, learning, entertainment, shopping, connecting, and living in the 21st century.

THE SOLUTION

  • City-owned network - like water and street lights

  • Access - available to everyone, regardless of ability to pay

  • Just an ISP - private companies still provide services like Netflix and HBO

  • Fast - fiber to the home is much faster than Comcast will ever be

  • Privacy - the city won’t sell your data

  • Net Neutrality - city won’t slow down Netflix or other services

  • Local Control - No anti-consumer practices, data caps, mandatory bundles, or rate hikes

DETAILS

  • Gigabit fiber to every home in Cambridge

  • About the price of a new school in Cambridge

  • Look to benchmark cities for guidance (there are over 750 communities that already have municipal fiber)

  • Endorse - say “I support a community owned network in Cambridge”

  • Leadership - advocate for municipal broadband

  • Join - Add your name to our mailing list and get our occasional newsletters.

  • Participate - join the conversation in our Google group