Wilson, North Carolina first got attention on the state level about two years ago when they were well on their way to constructing a municipally run fiber optic network to deliver fast broadband, television, and telephone services to area residents.  Time Warner, the incumbent provider, had bypassed Wilson for some of the highest speed upgrades.  This is a situation not unknown to StoptheCap! readers like those in Rochester who face their own slower speed Road Runner service.  Competition in nearby cities Buffalo and Syracuse have prompted Time Warner to upgrade speeds in those communities, but not in Rochester.

When Wilson city officials didn’t listen to the warnings from Time Warner officials, legislation introduced in the North Carolina legislature suddenly appeared which would essentially shut down Wilson’s project, and others like it, across the state.

The story below, from 2007, illustrates the divide, and the pro and con positions.  Now, two years later, the same issues are back, along with a new industry-sponsored bill to once again find a way to get rid of municipal networks in North Carolina.  Why StoptheCap! focuses on this issue is to help educate you about how this industry works, what alternatives are available, and give you the power to articulate to everyone why competitive, uncapped broadband service is essential to every community, at reasonable prices.  This isn’t a right or left issue.  It’s also one that should concern every person, no matter how much broadband service the use at the moment.

WRAL back again with another comprehensive and fair report.  This one is about two years old and focuses on the last round between Time Warner and the city of Wilson, North Carolina.  The exact same battle was renewed this spring, and we’re watching.

Wilson, North Carolina - An All America City for the 21st Century

Wilson, North Carolina recognizes the transformation of the economy of North Carolina, as manufacturing moves overseas and new high technology businesses get underway. In the new technology economy, a local community like Wilson cannot afford to be left behind by an incumbent cable and telephone company that bypasses their area, missing out on the latest upgrades and enhancements. So city officials decided enough was enough and floated a bond issue, without using any taxpayer money, to construct their own fiber optic network to service residential and business customers with a state of the art broadband platform.

The result was Greenlight, the most advanced fiber optics system in the area, and it actually saves customers money while providing them with service far beyond what the other guys are selling (and they don’t have usage caps.)

But as we’ll learn in this report from WRAL in Raleigh, Time Warner sniffs at the competition, suggesting the expenses going forward will put the project in an untenable position.  Wouldn’t it be better to shelve it now before you waste a lot of money?  Wilson wonders if this will be the last word from Time Warner on their fiber optic project.  Stay tuned… the picture will get snowier.  A lot snowier.

WRAL did a very good job packing a lot of information from all sides into a two minute package.  I found it interesting WRAL seems to be the only station in the area spending a considerable amount of airtime in their newscasts on the Wilson story, which would soon develop into a major controversy.

Over the next several days, StoptheCap! will be rolling out an interesting story about what happens when a local community decides it needs more than what corporate-owned cable and telephone behemoths are willing to give.  It’s an important story for any community pondering how to create new jobs in a high tech economy, provide state of the art broadband service to small businesses, colleges, and residents, and stop companies from rationing broadband services to customers at top dollar pricing with limits, caps, and overlimit fees.  It’s also a story about what lengths those companies will go to stop that from ever happening.

But first, an introduction to Wilson, North Carolina.