A Decade Ago Louisiana Stood Up to Giant Broadband ISPs, And Won Ten years ago this week, Lafayette, Louisiana locals made the outrageous decision to do something about the slow, expensive broadband duopoly in the region: they decided to build their own fiber network. Local incumbents Cox and AT&T (then BellSouth) engaged in some incredibly sleazy behavior to derail the project, including hiring push pollsters to tell locals taxpayer money would be used to fund pornography, or that the government was trying to force-ration their television watching to just a few days a week.

But locals voted to approve it, and LUS Fiber now offers locals gigabit speeds for $70, notably faster and cheaper than anything Cox and AT&T offer in the region. The project also now brings in $33 million annually, brings in $1.5 million in franchise fees for city services, is covering all costs and debt obligations, and is expected to be entirely in the black by the end of the year. That's an impressive accomplishment for a network AT&T and Cox lobbyists, consultants and an army of paid mouthpieces consistently argued would lead the city to economic ruin. "When an international magazine comes out and says Lafayette is tied for 1st place for the fastest internet speed in the world along with Singapore, Tokyo � that’s not the kind of thing that happens by chance that takes a lot of hard work," LUS Fiber Director Terry Huval says of the project's anniversary. "Thanks to your indomitable Cajun spirit, you prevailed, despite restrictive legislation and three years of litigation."

-FCC Boss Tom Wheeler Lafayette also this week received personal praise from FCC boss Tom Wheeler, who in a Lafayette also this week received personal praise from FCC boss Tom Wheeler, who in a speech praised the community's determination in the face of a broadband duopoly utterly unmotivated to compete on price or upgrade aging networks. "I know that Mayor Durel repeatedly asked the incumbent service providers to upgrade their networks to enable Lafayette to survive and thrive in the emerging information-based global economy, and that the incumbents repeatedly declined," said Wheeler. "Thanks to your indomitable Cajun spirit, you prevailed, despite restrictive legislation and three years of litigation." Often framed as a partisan issue to intentionally sow discord, Lafayette's predominately Conservative voters made it abundantly clear that municipal broadband and better connectivity is something many Democrats and Republicans agree on. Of course many towns and cities can't follow Lafayette's lead because of protectionist state laws, written by ISP lawyers (with even if locals want to vote for them . That's why Wheeler and the FCC have been Of course many towns and cities can't follow Lafayette's lead because of protectionist state laws, written by ISP lawyers (with ALEC's help ), prohibiting them from building networks or striking public/private partnerships --. That's why Wheeler and the FCC have been taking the fight to beholden state leaders , much to the chagrin of incumbent broadband providers and defenders of the status quo.







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swamppop

@lusfiber.net 3 recommendations swamppop Anon The skinny on LUS Fiber from a local... Here's the basic truths about LUS Fiber from a local:



- First, the network was paid for through revenue bonds that are tied to the revenues of the fiber network, not through an obligation of tax payers.



- Second, the only reason LUS Fiber was able to secure revenue bonds is because of the long-term stability and success of LUS, the 100 year old publicly owned utility.



- Fiber networks are paid for in a variety of different ways, including federal grants like in Chattanooga, private providers like Google in Kansas City, revenue bonds like in Lafayette, and pure public debt like a lot of other cities.



- Re: Lafayette's demographics, we're about 70% white, 25% black, 4% Hispanic, 1% Asian, so we are largely white. And unfortunately my experiences are that there is still a huge racial divide in our community and far too much casual racism for my tastes.



- But that played little role in this story as instead what LUS Fiber's story is reflective of is the spirit of the Cajun people, which is a culture rich in can-do spirit and not letting anyone else determine their destiny.



- The network is starting to turn the corner financially, but only after years of a number of arguably avoidable missteps, both large and small, that have prevented them from achieving greater financial success.



- And they're far from out of the woods at this point as they have major technical upgrades to pay for in the new future, more than a $100M in debt remaining, and increasing competition both from AT&T's recently deployed U-Verse in our market and the oncoming threat of DOCSIS 3.1 from Cox.



- I think the jury's still out on whether Lafayette is more of a heroic tale or a cautionary one when it comes to informing what other communities should be doing with their broadband futures. Though all in all, I have little doubt that Lafayette's going to come out ahead because of this investment even if the network fails financially because of the impact on this community's economy of having real broadband competition that's driving down prices and pushing up speeds.