According to the Rochester Post-Bulletin, Councilmember Michael Wojcik proposed that the Rochester (Minnesota) City Council direct Rochester Public Utilities to do a public broadband feasibility study. The Council members said no thanks.
Wojcik said he started getting interested in the topic when constituents started asking about broadband…
“What this is about is getting affordable access to all of our citizens,” Wojcik said. “Talk to the citizens you represent, because the reason I brought this forward is I had so many requests, so much frustration out there.”
It sounds as if the cost of the study (estimated at $50,000) and vocal opponents at the Council meeting may have contributed to the decision not to move forward…
Opponents of Wojcik’s plan, from the local cable company, Charter Communications, and the business community, made their objections known, in quiet murmurings as Wojcik spoke and in direct statements to the city council.
The Council heard specifically from John Wade, the president of the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, and Tucker Carlson at Charter Communications. Both asserted that local providers were meeting the needs of customers.
Reading this story induces a lot of cognitive dissonance. The residents are upset with the level of telecom service but the local chamber says everything’s fine? What gives here?
Good eye! I won’t pretend to answer specifically for Rochester – but I think the answer rests with looking at who the Chamber represents.