Here are five very specific reasons to vote against the LUS fiber plan:
- Because BellSouth is currently installing fiber for our homes in Lafayette that is functionally equivalent to what LUS is proposing and is not costing us a penny. 2) Because Cox is already providing the triple play services that LUS is proposing, and its existing cable infrastructure has the expansion capacity to offer future advanced services for many years to come. 3) Because Cingular, Verizon and others will be rolling out next generation wireless services that will substantially impact the LUS business plan negatively and offer us a vast array of services that fiber can't. 4) Because businesses in Lafayette already have access to fiber, from the LUS fiber ring among others, if they need and or desire. 5) Because our government should not be competing with private enterprise, especially in an area where we already have a vibrant and changing competitive infrastructure.
The LUS fiber plan is more about providing general revenue to our local government, without raising taxes, than anything else. The LUS plan can lose money hand over fist without negatively impacting what Lafayette Consolidated Government gets in revenue from the plan. They may, however, have to raise utility rates to make up the difference. We are at risk of appearing to be a backward thinking community by showing the rest of the world that we think our little local electrical utility should be driving our technical future, not globally recognized and competitive private enterprise. We may, in fact, fall behind in technology because telecommunication companies are going to think twice before rolling out services in a community whose government will be competing against them.
A more accurate slogan for "Fiber for Our Future" would read "Fiber in Lieu of Taxes."