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As talk of the dome stadium again enters Birmingham parlance, we need to have a discussion about municipal priorities: about what kind of city we are, and what kind of city we want to be.

With a price tag of half a billion dollars and a wanton determination behind it, the dome stadium looms ahead like an unavoidable succubus.

It may be the case that Birmingham desperately needs a dome stadium, but there's a lot of other ways to spend $500 million. We should at least talk about one of them.

What about a city-wide face lift that would be an undeniable economic boon to the area, attract new businesses and professionals from all over the country, immediately put Birmingham in the running with other urban movers-and-shakers, and is infinitely upgradable?

Would an option like that at least hold your attention for a few minutes?

Let's go.

Four years ago, the city of Chattanooga, as part of a larger infrastructure upgrade, installed a fiber optic cable network that provides world-class internet speeds to its businesses and residents in the city.

The network can deliver a one-gigabit connection – roughly 200 times the national average – to anyone that wants one for cheaper than what you pay for an AT&T U-Verse connection here in Birmingham.

This is because large internet service providers maintain a monopoly in most areas, but we'll get to that in a moment.

The upgrade has had such an impact, leading to an urban explosion and attracting companies from far and wide, that they've started calling themselves "Gig City". This New York Times article has a rundown of some of the businesses that moved to Chattanooga as a result of the new network.

And they aren't the only city making this move. Lafayette, LA; Chicago, IL; Springfield, MO; and a host of others have joined the trend, installing tax-payer-owned, city-operated fiber optic networks. Not to mention the countrywide campaign of Google Fiber, which has communities competing with one another to attract the technology behemoth to install a private network. Kansas City, Kansas won the most recent round of bids.

Fiber optics, though expensive to install, are surprisingly durable, very secure, and have the ability to move huge amounts of information at near the speed of light.

Is this a feasible option for Birmingham?

There have been some pro-technology initiatives from time to time in the city. City Councilman, Jonathan Austin told me about a program in which the city partnered with AT&T to provide free WiFi in low income areas. Not to mention the cities initial support of Innovation Depot, and the welcomed engagement from the city's office of Information Management Services with the new Code for Birmingham Brigade.

But these projects are small potatoes compared to the commitment it would take to plan and execute the installation of a fiber network in the city.

The Chattanooga network cost the city over $300 million. A $111 million federal stimulus grant helped hasten the pace of construction.

Furthermore, the hierarchy of utility provision is much different in Birmingham. The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga is a city-owned utility company. The fiber optic network they installed was part of a "smart-grid" electrical system upgrade that allowed for complete digital control of the routing and diagnostics of power distribution in the city.

Birmingham, on the other hand, is served by Alabama Power, a small branch of the electrical conglomerate, Southern Company. I reached out to Alabama Power on this topic. They told me that they do not have any plans at the moment, but are willing to dig into the subject with me in the coming weeks. You'll hear about that in the coming week or two.

Another thing that needs serious consideration is whether or not the city is willing to go to war with the existing ISPs.

As I mentioned above, most areas are controlled by one internet service provider, two if you're lucky. Like any monopoly, this means you get sub-par service at an inflated price.

The ISPs have nailed down a profitable game, and they're not ready to give it up.

During the design and construction of the network, the City of Chattanooga had to fend off lawsuits from the major ISP in the area, Comcast, as well as other local cable and internet providers.

The ISPs saw this trend coming and have been on a mission for years to try and head it off. They've written and lobbied for legislation in 19 states that makes it difficult if not impossible for municipalities to install fiber optic cable networks.

You guessed it: Alabama is one of those states.

Their argument, ironically, is that tax-payer-owned fiber networks are anti-competitive.

You see, when internet service becomes a public utility, the worries about tiered service and arguments about net neutrality become moot.

It's unlikely, however, that we'll find much support for this measure from the mayors office. As AL.com political commentary kingpin, Kyle Whitmire, pointed out to me: Mayor Bell was one of 52 mayors to sign a letter to the FCC supporting the merger of ISP leviathans Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

It's all about municipal priorities, inside and out of the city government.

If there's one thing I've tried to show you with my reporting over the last month, it's that Birmingham has the potential to become a technology hub. To do that, we're going to need an asset in both form and function. Not just a novelty to draw people and companies to the city, but an economic move that makes Birmingham more attractive than other places to do business.

Birmingham has a new trajectory that we should commit to. Notably, it's not the trajectory it had when this idea came up decades ago.

Not to mention the horribly risky nature of building stadiums, even when they are privately funded and have a team to fill them. In case the coverage and commentary on this site and others in the Birmingham area haven't convinced you, go read this report on franchise and stadium construction in The Atlantic.

There are lots of dome stadiums spread out across the country. There are even fewer teams, crowds, and events to fill them with.

There are only a few cities in the world in which you can download a two-hour, high-definition movie in 30 seconds.

Where are your priorities?

#bhamtech