Policy and Plan Convergence for Municipal Broadband Networks
21 Pages Posted: 13 Jul 2012
Date Written: August 15, 2007
Abstract
It is clear that the growth of municipal wireless networks remains exponential in the US. This paper makes several observations on where municipal broadband policy is being made, what the dynamics are, what the implications are, and several ways to understand the similarity between municipal policy choices. We draw from three bodies of literature (policy transfer, policy diffusion and policy convergence) in order to understand and explain the similarity of actions and business plans of municipalities in states with no passed anti-municipal broadband legislation. Each mechanism implies a different form of motivation to the exchange of policy elements. The goal is to help researchers and policy makers begin the process of developing more robust models for analyzing the policy arena around the development and deployment of municipal broadband systems.
Keywords: Municipal broadband networks, policy transfer, policy diffusion, policy convergence, phantom legislation
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