An article in the Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal takes CenturyLink to task for their big announcement and slow roll-out of gigabit access…

The telecom provider has been breathlessly promising super-fast broadband access to Twin Cities homes and small businesses since last fall. But if you’re waiting for service in your neighborhood? Don’t hold your breath.

That’s because Louisiana-based CenturyLink (CTL), the biggest phone provider in the Twin Cities, has wired only a relative handful of areas with the fiber-optic cable that carries the high-speed data, reports the Pioneer Press.

There’s no mystery why. Rolling out new cable is really expensive.

I think the timing is good for legislators to hear that customers get frustrated when they don’t get the service they want and/or need especially when it has been marketed in their area. It’s a frustration I’ve heard about from lots of folks in rural areas. It seems like the frustration is often greater when the provider is not local. (I would not single CenturyLink out at all!) A local provider (public or private) is more accessible to customer. Another thing that helps is competition.