LETTERS: “Hell, Yes,” on China’s Question #1

To the editor:

China Citizens are being asked to vote Yes or No on the creation of the China Broadband Fiber Optic Internet system to serve every home in China that wants it, all without raising taxes, by issuing a Bond that will be paid back by subscribers over time.

Last week our China Broadband committee reviewed the Hawkeye Fiber report where the whole town was surveyed, and maps and detail were provided. It showed the costs and the six problem areas where it will be more expensive to serve.

The Town of China selectboard continues to look for dollar certainty on the China Broadband project and even with a “Yes” vote of citizens, the select board will be able to reassess if this project is in the town’s best interest.

The big picture is how this system will benefit the Community. It creates competition where we currently have an unregulated monopoly provider that can set any price it wants. There is no regulatory “PUC” or Public Broadband Commission to set rates for internet service.

The alternative is real competition with multiple providers. Competition keeps money in the pockets of citizen subscribers.

For a rough example, if a subscriber saves $40 a month compared to an incumbent provider, this is $480 per year and $4,800 in ten years. Say we get to 1200 subscribers; in ten years this is $5.7 Million dollars in the pockets of China Citizens who subscribe to this new fiber service.

To me, this makes it an easy “HELL YES!” vote for Community Broadband!

from Bob OConnor, Citizen of China concerned about connectivity since the 1980s and serves on the China Broadband committee