Jeff Christiansen, leader of EntryPoint Networks, spoke to city councilors Tuesday about what bringing a city-run Internet service to Quincy could look like. The presentation came three weeks after the city launched a website to gauge residents interest in a local broadband service, and about 18 months after Ward 3 Councilor Ian Cain first floated the idea.
"So far we've had a tremendously positive response," Cain said of the survey, which will also be distributed with the city census in January.
Christiansen — whose company has worked to bring municipal Internet to towns in Idaho and California — spoke to councilors about a system that would treat broadband as a "fourth utility" alongside resident's access to water, sewer and electricity. Under his proposal, the city would maintain $50 million in infrastructure — things like fiber optic cables and telephone poles — that could be used by Internet providers like Comcast and Verizon to bring Internet to the city.
"We view the proper role of cities and counties is to be stewards over the infrastructure," Christiansen said. "Not to compete with the private sector and the service layer, but to be the steward over the infrastructure. That's the role cities and are used to playing and play well."
The infrastructure EntryPoint wants the city to operate would cost between $42.5 million and $60 million to build and install. Christiansen says that money would first comes from outside investors and would later be paid back by residents through their monthly Internet bill.
This payment structure, called the "opt-in model," means no up-front tax payer money would be required and it would result in bills of about $40 and $50 per month for Internet, about 30 percent less than the nationwide average of $70 per month, Christiansen said.
After the infrastructure is paid for — estimated to take about 20 years — the monthly cost would go down by about $10 per month. A $20 maintenance charge is included in the monthly cost into perpetuity, and that money would be used to maintain and repair the system. Christiansen said the infrastructure should last between 50 to 100 years, and that municipal Internet increases property values by about 3 percent.
"We want people to commit to paying for the infrastructure and in return we're going to give you tons of value and a lower monthly cost," Christiansen said. "We're going to drop the price people are paying, and this is going to be an improvement to their property."
In Quincy, Cain says the price for Internet has been driven up by a lack of competition — the only choice for broadband service is Comcast's Xfinity. With city-owned infrastructure, Christiansen said he'd expect five to 10 different companies to begin offering Internet services in the city.
"People are looking for relief and choice, so this is definitely worthy of conversation," Anne Mahoney, at-large city councilor, said.
To make a municipal Internet system work, about 40 percent of Quincy residents would have to agree to participate, Christiansen said. From there, it would be rolled out first in neighborhoods that responded most positively to the city's surveys.
The Braintree Electric Light Department has been offering Internet access for two decades, and will continue to do so after dropping cable TV service on Dec. 3. There are municipal systems in a dozen other municipalities around the state, and Milton also has a committee looking at offering municipal broadband service. Last Month, Weymouth expressed interest in teaming up with Quincy for a joint network.
©2019 The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
