Red Bank TV

This morning I’ve seen several references to a blog in Phoenix that lists the available broadband options in the area.

The poster, Jim Lippard, lists several DSLs, a cable company, a satellite provider, a couple of celluar providers and the municipal wifi network as options.

The problem with Jim’s list is that out of all of the options that he lists there is only one that could have a chance to deliver the same kind of bandwidth that Verizon’s FiOS can.  That would be the municipal wifi network.  Verizon knows this; that’s why they’ve fought to block municipal wifi’s around the country.  That’s why we need to keep muni-wifi as an option here in Red Bank.

I subscribe to Verizon’s FiOS service.  I’ve had dial-up, isdn, dsl and cable internet service.  Jim let me tell you, nothing touches what Verizon is providing over their fiber to the home network.  As the only fiber provider in my town I predict that they will become the defacto internet service provider in my area.  Their service is that much better.

That’s why I am concerned about Verizon’s statements about Net Neutrality.  I think their “slow” tier will still be faster than the other options we have in town so there would be no reason for consumers to switch to competitors once Verizon starts putting preferred providers on their “fast” tier and leaving the rest on their “slow” tier.

The only possible competition from Verizon would come from someone buying up “dark” fiber and creating their own internet backbone and providing the last mile via WiMax.

That is why we need to push Verizon in our town to respect Net Netruality and to not oppose a municipal wifi.