The Town of Cochrane is considering entering the Internet business. On the surface, its proposal sounds great – a municipally managed and owned utility that will cost users a fraction of what they pay to current internet providers such as Shaw, Telus or Bell. In fact, the touted cost of less than $7 per month per household for a 100 mbps service is on average more than 10 times less than what is currently available on the market. We admit, on the surface this idea sounds phenomenal. Not only would it save every home in Cochrane money it would also provide an unprecedented level of access to those who struggle financially. The latter point is one of the key motivators in the town's Smart Cities proposal, which if successful sweetens the pot by garnering a $5 million grant to put toward the project. This is where the savvy shopper should start asking questions and where the universal internet idea begins to lag. First, $5 million doesn't cover the cost of setting up the service – it doesn't even come close. The price tag, which includes laying the necessary nearly 40 km of cable, is just shy of $20 million. Subtract the $5 million and the town would have to borrow almost $15 million to launch the new utility. Right off the bat we get off on the wrong foot by borrowing tax dollars to pay for the project. We could argue the budget for the project should be funded completely on a user-pay basis and the first step would be to determine which residents would be interested in the new utility. Unfortunately, the town has made that argument moot since it will be a mandatory service, which is strike two to the plan in our books. Strike three is the fact it is difficult to support the notion of a municipality competing with private business using tax dollars paid by said businesses and its employees. We also have to wonder if there are legal issues with the town charging homes for a service whether they want it or not and technically forcing people away from private businesses. Regardless of what one might think of the practices of Canadian internet providers, the town's idea seems counter to fair competition. It's also hard for us to imagine that $7 a month, even if it comes from every household in town, will cover the costs associated with supplying internet to every home in Cochrane. At least not without it being subsidized by taxes, which it technically is by design. The town's heart is definitely in the right place, but universal internet for pennies a day that threatens Canadian jobs is not something we can get behind.
