Commission recommends Albany pursue its own internet service - Times Union

The commission, created past year, looked astatine models from different cities astir the state arsenic good arsenic the imaginable financing and gross options to assistance the metropolis negociate the outgo of creating and moving a broadband network.

The pandemic highlighted the request to guarantee each metropolis residents tin person entree to the internet, the commission’s seat Craig Waltz told the Common Council past week. The metropolis schoolhouse territory handed retired laptops to students truthful they could support up with their coursework but immoderate of those students lived successful homes that didn’t person internet.

“It’s bully to person a close manus but if there’s thing to grab, it’s not going to execute the goal,” Waltz said.

The study highlighted a survey of the municipal broadband net work successful Chattanooga, Tenn. That survey estimated that a $220 cardinal concern resulted successful a $2.7 cardinal instrumentality and 10,000 caller jobs. However, galore of the different cities the committee examined were smaller than Albany.

The metropolis would request to marque a fig of decisions earlier immoderate strategy is up and running, including what exemplary it would usage to transmit the net awesome to residents’ homes, whether to declaration retired for a backstage relation to tally the strategy oregon found a nationalist authorization to oversee it and however to wage for the system.

Waltz warned that if the metropolis does determine to make its ain net it volition instrumentality a large concern of clip and money.

"Even if we bash this it won't beryllium a accelerated process," helium said. "I privation it were. It volition outgo millions and millions of dollars."

One anticipation would beryllium utilizing the city’s thoroughfare poles to instal nodes that would transmit a signal.

It’s unclear however overmuch creating a municipal net strategy would outgo and the committee was wide that the metropolis would request to aggressively prosecute grants to assistance bring down those costs arsenic good arsenic marque the work affordable to each residents.

Common Council members questioned the committee connected however it could support costs down and enactment competitory with backstage net providers. The committee estimated that immoderate monthly complaint would person to outgo astir $60 a period and the city’s net work would person to supply higher download speeds oregon outgo little to beryllium competitory with existing net providers.

The study notes determination are subsidies disposable astatine some the authorities and national levels to assistance section governments amended net access.

The committee volition besides beryllium doing nationalist outreach to stitchery residents’ opinions and further probe earlier issuing a last report.