The High Cost of Internet Access

Sherwood, Oregon rethinks fiber-optic access for all

Unlike Portland, reminders of this city’s insolvent attempt to provide widespread Internet access aren’t perched atop streetlights or traffic signals, where hundreds of Wi-Fi antennas have been abandoned by private industry.

Here, the signs are less obvious. And here, taxpayers carry a heavy burden.

Five years ago, Sherwood leaders ambitiously set out to build and operate a fiber-optic network creating Internet connections to every home and business. They promised that the enterprise would pay for itself — and then some, creating excess revenue for other city projects.

So far, that hasn’t happened.

by Brad Schmidt, The Oregonian

Full Story: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/sherwood_rethinks_fiberoptic_a.html