• Private Sector
• Municipal
• Public/Private Partnership

• Return on investment driven o Infrastructure investments o Types of services o Price
• Competition for services in urban and suburban - lower cost
• Limited service at higher cost in rural and central cities

• Service provider focused - Network owner/operator determines bandwidth offerings
• Owner/operator determines what services will be offered (ISP, VOIP, Video)
• Connection cost based on amount of bandwidth - higher bandwidth = higher cost

• Government owned – o Single Municipality - Normally only found in municipalities that have existing electric or phone utilities o Regional Authority (Utopia, Iron
Range)
• Middle mile provider to public anchor institutions

Pros o Provider of last resort in underserved areas o Leverage existing resources
Cons o Private sector resistance to competition o Incumbent pressure to legislate against municipal delivery of broadband o Political and capital risk associated with starting a new government enterprise o Service area geographically limited

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
• Government represents public
• Right of way in exchange for expanded service and upgraded services
• Private sector owns and operates the network infrastructure and the customer
• Pros: Improved service
• Cons: Service limited by municipal boundaries; Closed network

OPEN ACCESS
PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
• Private non-profit represents public
• Public entities participate as members
• Private sector owns, operates the network and delivers services
• Non-profit owns the customer
• Pros: o Community drives availability of network services o Operator Independent Network – lower cost of entry of service providers

• Consumer focused – Consumer chooses services and providers
• Network ownership and operation separate from services (may be private or public)
• Private sector delivers services (IP,
VOIP, video, accounting, remote monitoring, video teleconferencing, remote back-up etc.)

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Southern Rural Development Center