Hybrid Fiber/Coaxial Cable, Coldwater, MI

Broadband is a public utility

• Competition benefits local economy
• Persistence pays off
• Focus on future for sustainability
• Residents prefer local services

Coldwater is located in south central, Lower Michigan and has a population of 10,000. It is the county seat and home to many county and state offices.

The Coldwater Board of Public Utilities (CBPU) is an operating agency that provides electric, water, wastewater and now communications services. Recognizing the need for high-speed services and interconnection to remain competitive the CBPU chose to engineer and construct its own hybrid fiber/coaxial (HFC) broadband communications network. The municipally owned "information superhighway" has promoted competition in Internet and cable television services.

CBPU's success did not occur overnight and several lessons were learned along the way.

The first step CBPU took was to conduct a feasibility study and several focus groups to determine overall satisfaction with CBPU, measure and assess the demand for current and potential services and to find the relative "market position" of the CBPU compared to other service providers in the area. CBPU's infrastructure was not able to offer cable or Internet services and needed to be upgraded.

Before they could begin, citizens needed to vote and approve a revenue bond. Fearing competition the incumbent cable company spent a lot of money to scare residents into thinking if they approved this measure their property taxes would increase. The first vote in July 1997 was unsuccessful.

However, there was a core group of supporters who asked the CBPU not to give up because they believed this project would benefit the community. The CBPU enlisted the help of educators, news people, friends in other areas of the government, and supporters from the community to get the message to the people that:

• A revenue bond would only put bondholders at risk.
• Municipal ownership of competitive communication and entertainment services would benefit the citizens of Coldwater through not-for-profit rates and would mean that more money would remain in the local community.

The CBPU put the issue before the voters a second time and were successful.

Benefits of the CBPU HFC system are aggregation and resale of long distance telephone service, resale of local dial tone, high-speed Internet access for business and industry, data transport for business and industry and some basic customer services.

In addition, all schools and libraries have been connected so they can communicate with each other.

All city, county and state offices located in Coldwater have been connected along with numerous other local businesses. Video arraignment services for the sheriff's department and courthouse are used and save taxpayer dollars.

The important benefit of this project is the economic impact of competition. Competition for entertainment services alone has, by some estimates, put as much as three and a half million dollars back into the pockets of Coldwater consumers since August 1998.

For More Information:
http://www.cbpu.com

Contact:
Lindy Cox, Communications Manager, Coldwater Board of Public Utilities
Phone: 517-279-6910
Email: LCox@muni.cbpu.com