Community broadband projects ‘can support robust economic development’

A man who was quoted by state Sen. Catherine Pugh in her Baltimore Sun op-ed criticizing the city’s decision to consider an expansion of its fiber network says the senator’s opinion piece was “flawed by many serious errors and omissions.”
Jim Baller, president of the Baller Herbst Law Group in Washington, D.C., said in a letter to the Sun that he does not agree with Pugh that municipal broadband projects should be abandoned by cities and towns pursuing them.
Baller, who said he has been “involved in more than 50 fiber projects” throughout the U.S., writes that he’s in favor of municipalities exploring different broadband opportunities:

“[M]unicipalities today are focusing on high-end networks that can simultaneously support robust economic development, lifetime educational and occupational opportunities, affordable access to modern health care, intelligent transportation systems, and much more.”

Read the full letter here.
As Technically Baltimore reported on Tuesday, the national Telecommunications as Commons Initiative said Baltimore’s decision to hire broadband consultant Magellan Advisors in August was a “smart start” in deciding what type of municipal fiber strategy to follow in this city.