iowamunicipals.com

Spencer Responds To Allegations Made By Anti-Municipal Groups
by Leon Rodas, General Manager, Spencer Municipal Utilities
Posted: 11/4/2005 2:33:12 PM

TV viewers, radio listeners, and newspaper readers in central and eastern Iowa have been bombarded with negative ads urging a no vote in upcoming communications utility elections. The groups running these ads, such as the Project Taxpayer Protection Campaign, Citizens for Common Sense Solutions, and others are essentially front groups for companies like Mediacom, Qwest, and Iowa Telecom that want to preserve their monopoly in these towns. In addition to the barrage of TV and radio ads, people in these towns have also received several color glossy brochures filled with false claims, and have been subjected to frequent phone calls.

Some of these ads falsely claim that the Spencer Municipal Utilities (SMU) communications utility is a failure. They use misleading statistics, made-up numbers, and ridiculous conclusions to bash SMU and the community of Spencer. This isn’t the first time that these companies have said untrue things about SMU’s communications utility. However we are concerned that Spencer as a community is becoming a casualty. These ads are saying untrue things about our community in an attempt to scare people into voting no.

Over the past several days, SMU has fielded several calls from citizens in towns like Hampton, Carlisle, Vinton, Charles City, Maquoketa, and Iowa Falls. These people heard the ads, and decided that the claims sounded suspicious. Rather than simply believe what they were seeing or hearing, they decided to seek the truth for themselves. We appreciate their individual efforts to find out the real story in Spencer. Unfortunately, most people that hear the ads will simply accept them as fact.

While SMU does not take a stand on how people in these towns should vote, we DO take a stand on the slanderous claims that are being made about our community by these ads. Spencer, and the SMU communications utility, are by no means the financial disaster that these ads portray. Our municipal communications utility is paying its bills, and is saving our citizens millions of dollars in lower rates in the process. Our electric and water rates are not going up because of the presence of a communications utility, and neither are taxes.

If people would like to know more details about the SMU communications utility’s financial health, we encourage them to visit a new website, www.iowamunicipals.com, and click the “Truth About Spencer” link on the left side of the screen. We invite you to examine SMU’s 2004 audit report at www.smunet.net/04audit.pdf. Or better yet, stop by our office or call us and we’ll answer all your questions.

Spencer is a wonderful town filled with community-minded people with a can-do spirit. We’ve shown that can-do spirit over and over again. We’ve expanded our hospital and added new services to improve health care in our community. We’ve rebuilt our downtown district with a new streetscape. We’ve enhanced our parks and recreation infrastructure with new trails, a skate park, new playgrounds, and a family aquatic center. We’re building a new fire station and a new middle school. We’ve seen growth in housing, in retail, and in industry where some other communities have seen stagnation. We’re proud of what Spencer is today and what it will be in the future.

Part of what Spencer is lies in our community-ownership of our electric, water, and communications utilities. Each of these utilities has a record of service and financial stability that have added value to the quality of our lives. We pay some of the lowest rates for electricity, water, cable TV, Internet, and telephone in the state of Iowa. The money we save gives our families and businesses more money to spend on things like food, clothing, housing, and recreation. And because our utilities-all of our utilities-have strong financial health, they have been able to reinvest in the community for projects that citizens support. Although just celebrating our 5th birthday, our communications utility has already provided over $200,000 in direct support for economic development and community projects. What have the private providers done in this regard?

Contrary to what you may have seen or heard, Spencer, Iowa is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. And we are very lucky to be able to choose a locally-owned, not-for-profit company for our vital utility services.

NIU Conference Touts Benefits Of Community Broadband
by Andre Salles, The Beacon News (suburban Chicago)
Posted: 10/30/2005 2:31:03 PM

"If you cannot connect, you cannot compete."

So says John Lewis, the associate vice president of Northern Illinois University's Outreach program. Lewis' message was a common one last week, as experts and statisticians gathered at NIU's Naperville campus to discuss the issue of broadband connectivity at the university's Telecom Conference.

While the idea of a bunch of number crunchers and theoreticians going on about technology might seem dull, the conference's topics have real-world implications, some of which have already been put to the test in the Fox Valley.

The term "broadband" refers to a method of communication that can support a wide number of different formats, from audio to video to data transfer. It works by dividing the signal into different frequencies, giving each its own channel.

It is different from high-speed Internet service offered by phone companies through dedicated service lines, or those offered by cable companies through their existing lines.

Broadband, with its blazing speed and full connectivity, has quickly developed into the standard globally, says Lewis. But this isn't just a matter of computer addicts playing faster video games. Broadband connectivity is becoming one of the factors that determines whether businesses choose certain areas to move into.

"I have not yet met an elected official that is not concerned with holding on to existing jobs and creating more within the community," said Alan Kraus, the executive director of the Broadband Development Group at the university's Regional Development Institute.

Kraus is an active proponent of full connectivity for all, and wants to further the debate on municipal broadband services, or those paid for and maintained by local governments. He sees a direct link between broadband connectivity and economic development, and the statistics seem to back him up.

For example, according to the RDI's Dr. Robert Gleeson, the majority of Chicago's economic growth – 63 percent – over the last few years has been through global trading, which requires fast and efficient connectivity. An estimated $24 billion in growth between 1998 and 2001 can be traced to the global market.

"High-speed connectivity is essential to global trade," he said. "Those regions that are not connected will be left out of that growth."

---Boost for property values

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Sharon Gillett actually went the extra step of conducting her own study, with several colleagues from MIT. Her report is titled Measuring Broadband's Economic Impact, and it shows, using national statistics, that broadband has a positive effect on economic growth. Jobs and new businesses increased by significant amounts in areas connected by broadband.

More than that, Gillett noted that property values actually increased significantly in areas with broadband capability, by an average of 6 percent in a year.

So the question, according to Kraus, is not whether broadband should be made available, but by whom. Kraus believes the debate should be framed in terms of public benefit, not competition and profit.

"The question is, what are the providers doing with it," he said. "Companies like SBC and Comcast combine content and carriage, looking just to lock customers up. The question should be, what are we doing in the public interest?"

That question was raised locally in 2003 and 2004, when the issue of a Tri-Cities municipal broadband network was brought to referendum twice in Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia. The measure was defeated both times, and it faced tremendous opposition by private service providers like SBC, who pointed out the likely increased cost to taxpayers. Proponents of the measure said at the time that a locally based television/telephone/Internet service would increase job growth and provide innumerable services to hospitals and schools.

---'Social benefit'

The work of George Ford, chief economist with the Phoenix Center in Washington, D.C., bears that out. Ford worked with the Florida Municipal Electric Association earlier this year to fight anti-municipal broadband legislation in Lake County, Fla., and his research showed that economic growth in that area far outpaced other nearby counties, in some cases by a factor of 10 to 1.

Ford believes the sticking point is competition, and advocates erasing that from the vocabulary when it comes to municipal networks. He notes that cities and towns have advantages over private carriers, such as low-cost debt, and while those seem like unfair edges in a competitive field, they are arguments in favor if the focus is benefiting the residents.

"It's about profit maximization for private providers," he said, "but the social benefit for a municipality is much higher. Although municipalities should not get into this business unless the private sector is not providing what's needed."

Ford said that municipal broadband networks are easier to start up and maintain for cities and towns like Batavia, who already have a municipal electric utility and are used to running it.

NIU, for its part, is practicing what it preaches. The university's own broadband network, designed to link all of its campuses, is in the works, and the first phase, connecting those in Naperville and DeKalb, will be online in January.

"This issue comes to the question of how we want to shape our communities," Kraus said. "Broadband technology is the door-opener."

Washtington Post Supports More Choices For Broadband
by Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post editorial
Posted: 10/27/2005 2:58:26 PM

“A choice of broadband access that's limited to the cable company and the phone company would be extraordinarily bad. Although such firms have done a remarkable job of rolling out service, they let down customers in other ways.“

Increased Competition Lowers Prices
by Ben Scott, Policy Director and Frannie Wellings, Program Manager for Free Press
Posted: 10/27/2005 1:24:40 PM

“Municipal broadband increases competition, lowers prices, and drives demand for future deployments in both the public and private sectors.”

Survival for Rural America
by USA Today editorial
Posted: 10/27/2005 1:24:25 PM

“This has emerged as a survival issue for rural and small-city residents, whom the telecom companies logically get to last because less density translates into lower profit potential. As measured by education, employment or entertainment, the future appears to be tied to high-speed access.”

ISU Professor Disputes Accounting Methods Used By Municipal Critics
by Cynthia Jeffrey, Iowa State University accounting professor
Posted: 9/27/2005 2:54:52 PM

"I thought he picked and chose data to show a particular picture that's not supported even when you look at his other data.” -- describing methods used in a Heartland Institute report critical of municipal communications utilities in Iowa (as reported in The Des Moines Register)

Extraordinarily Bad
by Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post editorial
Posted: 8/14/2005 1:22:34 PM

“A choice of broadband access that's limited to the cable company and the phone company would be extraordinarily bad. Although such firms have done a remarkable job of rolling out service, they let down customers in other ways. “

Senator Lautenberg Says Broadband Access Is Key To Communities Success
by Sen Frank Lautenberg
Posted: 8/1/2005 2:47:22 PM

“Broadband might not be as essential as water, but it’s becoming increasingly important in our competitive global economy. Those who are left out of the high-speed revolution will miss out on opportunities for better jobs and education and a higher quality of life.”

Broadband is Increasingly Important
by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), HillNews.com
Posted: 7/27/2005 1:39:47 PM

“Broadband might not be as essential as water, but it’s becoming increasingly important in our competitive global economy. Those who are left out of the high-speed revolution will miss out on opportunities for better jobs and education and a higher quality of life.”

Intel Supports It
by Peter K. Pitsch, Director, Communications Policy, Intel Corporation
Posted: 7/23/2005 1:26:39 PM

“Intel supports allowing municipalities to pursue network solutions that are arrived at through open processes and are reasonably competitively neutral. We believe that framework encourages public-private partnerships that could advance the goal of making affordable and high quality broadband available to all Americans.”

The Job Is Ours
by John McCain
Posted: 6/26/2005 4:06:24 PM

"When private industry does not answer the call because of market failures or other obstacles, it is appropriate and even commendable, for the people acting through their local governments to improve their lives by investing in their own future."

USA Today Supports Municipal Systems
by USA Today editorial
Posted: 1/10/2005 1:39:48 PM

“This has emerged as a survival issue for rural and small-city residents, whom the telecom companies logically get to last because less density translates into lower profit potential. As measured by education, employment or entertainment, the future appears to be tied to high-speed access.”