Solutions: Infrastructure - Telecom Contracts

Study and Possibly Reassess Major Telecom Purchase Contracts to Stimulate Competition

GOAL: Leverage the demand for broadband across community institutions to promote competition and investment in broadband services.

DESCRIPTION: Competition is important as it enables consumers to find provider alternatives, which then helps to lower costs, improve services, and induce broadband providers to upgrade their networks. By encouraging competition, communities will benefit directly through the expanded services and competitive prices.

In addition to meeting with local providers listed in this report to encourage expansion into territories with one provider, the community should pursue other options to offer broadband service.

One of the most important tools that a community can use to drive competition is harnessing the demand for broadband capacity across community institutions to leverage their purchasing power.  The purchasing power should be leveraged to help promote greater competition in the broadband market and drive increased investment in backhaul and last mile broadband capacity.

ACTIONS:

Develop partnerships between local high-capacity demand institutions, including local civic institutions, government entities, public safety agencies, libraries, hospital or clinics, and schools, in a coordinated effort to aggregate local demand needs for increased broadband capacity and service.

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES:

Local units of government, including telecommunication commissions/boards and IT professionals; Broadband providers; Community anchor institutions; Large businesses

RESOURCES:

Broadband Competition and Innovation Policy: http://www.broadband.gov/plan/4-broadband-competition-and-innovation-policy/.

The Importance of Telecommunications and Telecommunications Research: https://www.nap.edu/read/11711/chapter/