Unique model makes citizens a funding partner in broadband network

Ammon, Idaho (pop. 13,800), today celebrates its success at thinking differently to produce a city-owned gig network. The city built the network with no debt and got an impressive 70% of the potential customers to sign up for service. One key is new technology. The other is that the “private” in this PPP structure is citizens themselves. “Ammon has created a unique and interesting model,” says Deb Socia, executive director of Next Century Cities, a national organization of mayors and other civic leaders who are trying to improve broadband connectivity locally. “The funding structure for Ammon’s [system] worked perfectly for them and may possibly work for others.”No one has to convince Technology Director Bruce Patterson of the City of Ammon the value a bringing new thinking to the table. He recalled a city he knew that recently hired a consultant to do a broadband feasibility study.A city in eastern Idaho figured out how to build a gig network for its city of 13,800 residents with no debt and a strong sign-up rate. Maybe there’s a lesson for other communities here.