The example the proponents of the broadband initiative are using is a $600,000 price tag from a local provider on a fiber link to Cascade Lodge.
Let’s look at this a little closer. Thefollowing information is from a book called Optical Communications—rule of thumb.
Its authors are John Lester Miller and Fred Friedman. This book can be found on Google. Please look it up for yourself. Thefollowing excerpt is on page 39.
“It costs $70,000 dollars per mile to install fiber cable in the ground.” Now with that information clear, consider that it is about 9.5 miles of fiber to Cascade Lodge from Grand Marais. Multiplying 9.5 X $70,000 equals $665,000 dollars just for the fiber. That does not include the site prep for the equipment (concrete pad, permanent power to site and backup battery power for power outages). It also does not include the equipment itself on both ends of the fiber.
So $600,000 is not such an outlandish price tag once you do your homework. If you owned a business and it costs $600,000 worth of material to do this job and you charged the end user $120 dollars a month it would take you 417 years to make a profit. This is the business opportunity the county wants to get into using your tax money. Don’t let them fool you; the $32 million in stimulus money is your tax money. The $9 million in sales tax is also your tax money, and the $9 million in bonds will be paid back by proceeds made in the above business model? Don’t be fooled, vote no on broadband and tell your commissioner you want the tax money to go elsewhere in this community.
Tom Bernier
Grand Marais
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