An increasing number of local governments are building...

An increasing number of local governments are building high-speed broadband networks, said New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) and CTC Technology & Energy, a communications and information technology engineering consulting firm, in a report Tuesday. Public broadband networks in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina, “as well as hundreds of others across the U.S., have demonstrated their ability to provide cutting-edge and more affordable broadband access to their communities,” said OTI Policy Program Associate Patrick Lucey in a news release (http://bit.ly/1fMvipc) on the report (http://bit.ly/1kHd04X). The projects signal “an opportunity for other local governments to define a better broadband future, where private sector-only approaches are unwilling or unable to meet a community’s aspirations or needs,” Lucey said. “In light of the current debates about net neutrality and the potential Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, it is more important than ever that communities begin to discuss local broadband options."