Towns should cooperate for faster Internet

An access plate in the lawn in front of my house says that fiber optic cable is buried below. I occasionally wonder why I've never heard from some company that wants to sell me faster Internet service via fiber optic cable. Maybe a Chicago Sun-Times editorial (April 28) explains why: "The Internet was invented in America, but we've dropped to 31st in the world in download speeds partly because there's not enough competition among Internet service providers, a problem that will get worse if the Comcast takeover of Time Warner Cable is approved."

With a controversy brewing also over the issue of Net neutrality, The New York Times (April 28) reports that more than 400 towns and cities across America have "installed or are planning" their own fiber optic systems to provide residents with Internet access that is fast and relatively cheap. In Santa Monica, Calif., cited as an example, businesses already not only get much faster Internet access via the municipal fiber optic City Net but also pay about a third as much as it would otherwise cost them.

When Arlington Heights and nearby communities got together to buy electricity, I noticed an immediate drop in my electricity bill. Wouldn't it be great if they would get together also to offer residents faster and cheaper Internet access? Some of the groundwork seems already to have been done.

Richard Frisbie

Arlington Heights