WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Could Watertown provide its own internet to city residents and save people money?
Watertown City Council Member Cliff Olney is floating that idea. He wants the city to look into the possibility of Watertown moving towards a municipal broadband system – essentially the city would provide its own internet service to residents.
“I thought it would be something that might be helpful here, especially with internet costing what it does,” said Olney.
He says the goal is to give people another option for internet service and bring in a new revenue stream for the city. He says he got the idea from Jamestown, New York, a city of just under 30,000 people in the western part of the state.
Mayor Edward Sundquist is aiming to make Jamestown the first city in the state to own and operate a municipal broadband system.
“One of the things that we saw especially during the pandemic was the lack of access for kids, for families, for people, especially here in the city of Jamestown,” said Sundquist.
Sundquist says the city is finishing up a feasibility study to see if the system is worth it. He says just talking about the idea has gotten the attention of local internet providers, with at least one looking to cut a deal.
“One proposal was if we paid the telecommunications company $25 million, they’d give everyone internet in the city for $25 a month for 10 years,” said Sundquist.
Watertown Mayor Jeff Smith doesn’t believe it’s realistic and says the private sector takes care of that already.
“I know Google, I think looked at it, but they decided not to get into the business. But that would be a huge expense to the city,” he said.
However, Smith said he’s open to learning more about it. Olney says money is available through the federal government for development if the city finds out the project is feasible.
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