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There has been a lot of promise with the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities' broadband internet project so far.
A $25 million Broadband for All grant means the broadband network is being built with little local cost. BPU customers who opt in look to save as much as 50% to 60% compared to similar internet speeds available right now. Kris Sellstrom, BPU general manager, said the fiber project has 4,000 service drops installed already, with many more to go before the end of the year. More than 700 customers are online now.
We think the rubber is about to meet the road.
The BPU, with City Council approval, will act to create a new Digital Infrastructure Division. There is not currently any staff specifically for the division, which means current BPU staff are pulling extra weight to try and get everything set and online. Once the division is created they can start looking at staffing.
Creating the new division means the BPU board begins to get a better sense of actual revenues and expenses for the new division. That's important, because one of the questions people have is how the BPU and its providers make a profit while offering broadband internet for prices that are much lower than for-profit companies currently offering broadband in the city. It helps not to have the initial infrastructure investment coming from the BPU budget, but it will be interesting to see how the BPU manages maintenance and improvements to the system.
The BPU is launching a new division at the same time it is trying to figure out what the future holds for its District Heating division. In our view the uncertainty regarding district heat is instructive as the BPU embarks on the Digital Infrastructure Division. District Heat started with a great idea – take steam from the BPU's power generating facility and use it to heat buildings downtown. It was a wonderful service – until the system became too old to easily upgrade. Now, it's at the end of its useful life and BPU officials are trying to figure out either a new path forward or make the choice to retire the system. This year, keeping the system running means a 10% rate hike for system users with decision made whether District Heat will continue or be retired.
District Heat, which was once a groundbreaking and then a reliable technology is now a looming question mark for the BPU and its customers. It will be interesting to see, a couple of decades down the road, if the Digital Infrastructure Division finds itself in the same position.