It’s not you, it’s me. I’m from the Government and I’m here to help. This is going to hurt me a lot more than it hurts you. We’re just looking out for your best interest.

Whether I’m saying it or hearing it, I hate conversations that start with any of the above lines. Turns out I can’t even read about conversations that start this way without getting a little riled up. So I was fuming a little after reading Nate Anderson’s article in Ars Technica (Telco to fiber-deploying town: “We sue because we care!”).

Thanks to the help of Lynne Dahl-Fleming, I have been following the situation in Monticello. The City started to build a fiber network. The incumbent sued. The City is moving ahead as much as it can. The incumbent is starting to build too. The courts are working it out.

Nate Anderson spoke to the incumbent (TDS) about the situation to get their side of the story. Here’s the quick answer from the article:

Andrew Petersen, the director of legislative and public relations for the company, told Ars in an e-mail that the company’s “first” reason for filing the lawsuit was because such projects have failed in other communities and “we’re hoping to prevent the citizens of Monticello from becoming the shareholders of a $25 million tax burden.” Second on the list was the company’s desire to “protect our corporate assets and investments in Monticello,” and TDS believes that the city has crossed legal lines in starting the project.

It is my understanding that TDS has been invited to (and I think at) the table in Monticello throughout this process. TDS says they didn’t step up to the plate to offer fiber because they didn’t think people really wanted it. So they let the city sell the idea and then used the referendum to build the municipally owned network as their market study. They let the city continue to invest taxpayer money and then they got into the game.

Now if a year ago TDS had said – show us there’s interest and we’re in like Flynn, I’d be OK with what has happened, but they didn’t. (I think TDS might be getting a little of my anger from the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae buyout. When did we get to be so adversarial? Corporations work against the government until/unless they need it. )

On the pragmatic hand I think – well Monticello is getting fiber so that’s all good. And TDS is right – there is risk in the plan and they are buffering that risk. Two years from now when they are flying with ultra fast speeds, who cares what it took.

On the other hand, TDS’s move has stopped other communities from moving forward with municipal – or at least it’s become a consideration. In that way, we’re letting the corporations set the policies.