Broadband Project Details

I attended the Oct. 4th meeting over the phone and have to say it was a great way to participate and I would expect it will help engage more of the community. The forum was well run and the answers to questions quite informative.
I would strongly encourage our city council to approve moving forward with municipal broadband. I will be sure to contact my city council representative and suggest others do the same. The support and benefit for the community is overwhelming, and waiting is not necessary.
Thank you to this advisory board - and I hope this continues to move ahead quickly.

Executive summary: Strongly in favor of Loveland Municipal Broadband.

Broadband is now at the stage where it should be considered a basic utility, and is too important to be left in the hands of monopoly providers whose first concern (quite correctly) is their own profit, and who have shown that the well-being of their customers is not of importance to them. I'm particularly concerned that the end of net neutrality will allow them to block, or charge extra for, services that are popular. Further, the application of data caps will become more significant as we move away from using ISP services like telephone and cable TV.

I expect to see two main types of objection: The shills for the legacy ISP's and people who believe government can do nothing correctly (they're wrong!). I will interpret most objections to municipal broadband in one of those two contexts.

I use the Internet for everything from entertainment to research to work as I frequently work from home. I believe a city provided network would help combat the monopoly that ISPs such as Comcast hold over certain areas. Additionally, now that the FCC has killed Net Neutrality, it’s even more important to have additional optione to get connected.

Because of the impact the internet has had on society. I now think broadband should be a part of everyone's utility bill and not an entitlement to those that can afford it. The city is smart to recognize this paradigm shift and act on it for the good of all of us.

In my opinion, private ISP companies do not focus enough on keeping prices affordable. Internet is now a utility and a necessity for every household. It is my belief that the City of Loveland would be better equipped to provide quality broadband service to residents and would be more focused on providing an excellent customer experience at a more reasonable price. I would be one of the first to sign up for service!

I am a small time serial entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses over the years, all of which required communications through the internet.
I can think of no more powerful method of supporting the future well-being of the community than this particular initiative. Communication methods have grown in sophistication, and this has lead to increasing reliance on high speeds and thus greater demands on existing infrastructure.
Unfortunately, in this case, the private sector has failed us dramatically, both in terms of service and support. I am "over the moon", as they say, at the prospect of having access to this level of price and service. I am in full support of your efforts to provide the citizens of Loveland the opportunities and prosperity they deserve.

Monopolies never provide as good of value as a competitive environment. I am concerned that over time the service level will decline as competitors are unable to compete with a government agency. Loveland in general attempts to do all services in-house rather than contract to private companies. The lack of performance metrics yields an inferior service level at an inflated cost. My concern is Broadband System will go the same way as the other city services.

The importance of the internet has evolved drastically these last 20+ years, and will continue to evolve over the next 20. The corporations that make up most ISPs naturally prioritize shareholder value over investing in their infrastructure, offering premium service at an affordable price, or extending their offerings to poorly-served neighborhoods on the outskirts. As a household of two telecommuters, the internet is our highway to work. Just like people that drive to work, our decision to live in a community is based on our "commute". Reliable and affordable internet access will be essential in the future if Loveland wishes to remain competitive with it's neighbors to the North and South.

Considering that other Colorado cities have made broadband available to all it's citizens at an affordable price.......Why is it taking so long for Loveland to even be able to provide basic information about pricing and services that may be available ??? We're not reinventing the wheel here. Can't the city figure out faster what works and what hasn't based on other city's experience at providing broadband ? At this pace I'll be long dead before Loveland gets a product available !

I live in an apartment, so I wonder who will install the fiber to my apartment. Will it be the building owner or the city?

Also, I would rather that the city owns and runs the network as a utility, because internet access has become so necessary in our society, so the city would be best at managing this resource.

Internet speeds in Loveland are more than sufficient. There is no reason to socialize Internet connectivity any more than there was to do so with trash and recycling. It eliminates competition and will lead to poorer service in the long term, not to mention steeling business away from for-profit companies.

It is very deceptive to couch this issue as if people do not already have broadband. It should state "is city-run broadband access necessary". The answer is no.

There is much to be concerned about in regard to tcp/ip communication. Having it not be the exclusive bailiwick of private capitalism is one important concern. Thus, having a public access to the conversation is important.

I work from home and use the internet a lot, so thank you for your efforts in bringing this kind of service to Loveland. I would sign up today if I could!