Ongoing Series: Problems in Public Utility Paradise

For some time now here at the TLF, we have been documenting the track record of various government-owned or subsidized utility projects — municipal wi-fi projects, locally-owned telecom ventures, city or state fiber projects, and so on.  We’ve attempted to see if the rhetoric matches the reality when it comes to the grandiose promises made about government investment or ownership of communications or broadband networks being our ticket to high-tech paradise.  The results?  Well, the record speaks for itself.  It’s been one miserable failure after another.  And yet the high-tech pork barrel rolls on and taxpayers are all too often stuck picking up the tab.

[Note: Some of these essays were part of an old ongoing series called “Problems in Muni Wi-Fi Paradise,” which explains the installment numbers you see below.]