Tacoma could soon have a publicly-owned broadband internet provider.
Click! Cable, owned by the city, can only currently offer Internet to customers like Orr with the help of third party providers. Because Click! does not have its own internet option it cannot offer bundled deals. That is one reason Click has struggled to keep and attract customers-- losing millions each year.
“We’ve had the same business model for 15 years in an industry that changes every 18 months,” said Tacoma Public Utilities Board Chairman Bryan Flint. “We need to change to keep up with the times.”
Tacoma now has two options. The city could make money by leasing the Click! network to a private company that will provide all cable and internet services. The network would remain owned by the city.
Tacoma could also turn Click! into the biggest Washington city with a publicly-owned broadband Internet option. Seattle city leaders just passed on a municipal internet pilot program two weeks ago.
Flint believes a public internet utility would be good for everyone.
“Publicly-run means we don’t have a profit motive,” Flint said. “So we can keep our rates low for everybody, we can have an impact on those that we compete with their rates lower.”
But Public Utility Board member Monique Trudnowski is worried about the cost of having the city expand into the internet business. She is concerned everyone’s power bill would increase to pay for “socialized” internet.
“I keep going back to the low income families that would be affected by an increase in power rates, as well as the rate payers in Tacoma and outside the city,” Trudnowski said.
Tacoma resident Russ Heaton also thinks leasing Click! to a private company make a lot of sense.
“If there’s going to be a private company that’s going to do the same thing, same service, same price then I don’t think there’s a place for government at that point,” Heaton said.
Whatever Tacoma ends up doing, leaders promise there will still be a cheaper internet option available for low income families.
The Public Utilities Board votes this Thursday, and the city weighs in on municipal broadband internet soon after.
KIRO
