LUSFiber

Last updated
LUSFiber
Company type Municipally Owned (subsidiary of Lafayette Utilities System)
Industry FTTH, Telecommunications
Founded Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. 2004 (2004)
Headquarters,
Area served
City of Lafayette
Key people
Ryan Meche
Services Cable television, Broadband Internet, Telephone
OwnerLafayette Utilities System
Website http://lusfiber.com/

"LUSFIBER" is a municipally owned subsidiary of Lafayette Utilities System, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone services to the citizens of Lafayette, Louisiana. It is notable for being the first municipally owned company providing Fiber-To-The-Home services in the U.S. state of Louisiana and one of the first municipally owned FTTH companies in the country. [1]

Contents

History

In the late 1990s, the Lafayette Utilities System (Lafayette's municipally owned utilities company) needed to upgrade its outdated microwave system for connecting their substations. LUS chose to upgrade with Fiber Optic technology. [2] In 2002, after installing the system for their needs, they used the surplus fiber optic strands to provide wholesale service to hospitals, universities and the Lafayette Parish School System. [3]

In 2003 during the campaign for city-parish president, candidate Joey Durel expressed in a Chamber of Commerce debate with his opponent that he would not be in favor of LUS competing in the private sector. However, once taking office, Joey Durel led the charge for a citywide fiber to the premise initiative. As he often said, "I begged the private sector to do it so that we wouldn't have to." With the incumbents refusing, local government was the only option. [4]

In 2004, the city announced its proposal for a municipal fiber network providing broadband internet, cable TV, and telephone services to the city of Lafayette. [5] 70 percent of residents and 80 percent of businesses responded positively to a market survey conducted by LUS. The questions asked and the raw results of the telephone poll were requested by interested parties in the public but were never released. The announcement of the project came within 4 months of Durel's inauguration, just one day after the closing of submission of new bills in the state legislature. This would presumably prevent a challenge in the state legislature by the incumbent phone and cable provider, as there are many laws on the books regulating phone and cable TV providers, but no laws regulating a local municipality entering such business sectors.

Representatives from the ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Provider) Bellsouth (now AT&T) lobbied representatives in the legislature to modify an existing bill to regulate municipal entities entering into the telecommunications business. This bill, negotiated between representatives from Bellsouth, Cox Communications, LUS, Louisiana Energy and Power Authority, Louisiana Municipal Association, Louisiana policy jury association, and Governor Kathleen Blanco became the Local Government Fair Competition Act of 2004. [6] [7] This bill was adapted from the Municipal Telecommunications Private Industry Safeguards Act, a model piece of legislation provided by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). [8]

As per the requirements of Local Government Fair Competition Act (LGFCA), LUS conducted a Feasibility Study and presented the study in November 2004. [9] The Lafayette city-parish council voted to adopt the study and proceed with the sale of bonds by resolution in December 2004 and opted to forgo a referendum. This resolution resulted in a petition for a referendum in January 2005 and a subsequent lawsuit in February. The petition was conducted by a non-profit group calling themselves Fiber411.com. The group was founded by 3 citizens of Lafayette who spoke out at the public hearings against the Feasibility Study and later joined by other volunteers and concerned citizens. While some accused the group of being shills for Bellsouth and Cox, the three were of backgrounds in oil and gas leasing, home building and oilfield engineering respectively, had never met prior to November 2004 and had no ties to the communications industry nor local government.

The petition was participated in by members of Fiber411.com and community volunteers and volunteers from Bellsouth and Cox. The administration highly contested the petition, which was ultimately not recognized as valid. Fiber411.com, being a volunteer group, decided not to sue to enforce the petition due to lack of funds. Bellsouth filed suit over the petition and won. The decision was based on the judge's determination that the city had used the incorrect set of Louisiana State laws to seek a sale of bonds that precluded a referendum mechanism. The district court decision further ruled that the petition used by Fiber411 was written to appeal to the correct set of state laws that the city should have been using. The city of Lafayette then had to decide if it would try again to sell bonds with or without a referendum. The city decided to have a referendum.

The council members of the city-parish government before 2005 had stated that they did not want a "media bloodbath" between the city and the incumbents, which was their reason for denying a referendum. In the end, the city of Lafayette hosted a series of "Town Hall" meetings where the Fiber project was discussed. Local Political Action Committees calling themselves LafayetteYes and LafayetteComingTogether, composed largely of political allies of the Administration, consultants, etc., raised and spent over $300,000 for media campaigns. Fiber411.com spent approximately $10,000, and Bellsouth spent less than $5,000. Cox spent $0.00 on the campaign. As such, the media campaign was very one-sided.

On July 16, 2005, the proposal was put to a vote, and the residents of Lafayette approved of the city's plan by a margin of 62% for and 38% against. [10] [11] In order to raise money for the project, the city had to borrow money through tax-exempt bonds. Again the state cable association and BellSouth sued Lafayette, alleging the bond ordinance didn't comply with state law. The suit was won by the city in district court but an appellate court panel ruled 3-0 that the city's ordinance to sell bonds violated the Local Government Fair Competition Act's requirement that the money to fund the fiber project must not be subsidized by funds from the existing utilities system.

Lafayette followed up the court loss with a new ordinance that amended the original. Two citizens of Lafayette sued (known as Elizabeth Naquin et al.) [12] as well as Bellsouth. Bellsouth inexplicably declined to pay court costs for submission of the suit and ended up dropping the suit. Naquin et al. remained. LUS won in district court, but the appeals court again decided 3-0 that the city's ordinance violated the Local Government Fair Competition Act in a similar manner as the original ordinance. [13] This time the city appealed to the Louisiana State Supreme court. The high court decided that the appeals court's ruling to enjoin (prevent) the city from selling bonds was based on a brief that was filed too late. When the high court threw out this brief, the argument that had succeeded in appeals court was no longer allowed. A unanimous ruling by the Louisiana State Supreme court reversed the appeals court's decision. [14] This allowed the city to proceed with the sale of the bonds to fund the project.

In 2007, Lafayette was finally able to start issuing bonds. Construction started in 2008 on the network, and the first customers were receiving service in February 2009. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lafayette, Louisiana</span> Consolidated city-parish in Louisiana, United States

Lafayette is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth-most populous city with a 2020 census population of 121,374; the consolidated city-parish's population was 241,753 in 2020. The Lafayette metropolitan area was Louisiana's third largest metropolitan statistical area with a population of 478,384 at the 2020 census. The Acadiana region containing Lafayette is the largest population and economic corridor between Houston, Texas and New Orleans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of Louisiana</span> Principles, institutions and law of political governance in the U.S. state of Louisiana

The Louisiana Constitution is legally named the Constitution of the State of Louisiana and commonly called the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, and the Constitution of 1974. The constitution is the cornerstone of the law of Louisiana ensuring the rights of individuals, describing the distribution and power of state officials and local government, establishes the state and city civil service systems, creates and defines the operation of a state lottery, and the manner of revising the constitution.

Municipal broadband is broadband Internet access offered by public entities. Services are often provided either fully or partially by local governments to residents within certain areas or jurisdictions. Common connection technologies include unlicensed wireless, licensed wireless, and fiber-optic cable. Many cities that previously deployed Wi-Fi based solutions, like Comcast and Charter Spectrum, are switching to municipal broadband. Municipal fiber-to-the-home networks are becoming more prominent because of increased demand for modern audio and video applications, which are increasing bandwidth requirements by 40% per year. The purpose of municipal broadband is to provide internet access to those who cannot afford internet from internet service providers and local governments are increasingly investing in said services for their communities.

The administrative divisions of Virginia are the areas into which the Commonwealth of Virginia, a U.S. state, is divided for political and administrative purposes. Some are local governments; others are not. However, all local governments are political subdivisions of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet in the United States</span>

The Internet in the United States grew out of the ARPANET, a network sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense during the 1960s. The Internet in the United States of America in turn provided the foundation for the worldwide Internet of today.

Wyandotte Municipal Services is a not-for-profit service provider located in Wyandotte, Michigan. The services that WMS provides are electric, cable telecommunications, and water supply and treatment to the City of Wyandotte. WMS was created by local residents more than 100 years ago. The City of Wyandotte, Michigan is the only community to own and operate its own power plant, water treatment plant, and cable TV headend.

Fiber to the premises (FTTP) in the United States is provided on a limited geographical basis by Google Fiber, Verizon, Lightower, and a number of smaller Internet Service Providers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal</span> Intermediate appellate court of Louisiana

The Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal are the intermediate appellate courts for the state of Louisiana.

Michael Huval, also known as Mike "Pete" Huval, is an American politician and insurance agent from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, currently serving as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 46 in St. Martin Parish.

The government of Washington State is the governmental structure of the State of Washington, United States, as established by the Constitution of the State of Washington. The executive is composed of the Governor, several other statewide elected officials and the Governor's cabinet. The Washington State Legislature consists of the House of Representatives and State Senate. The judiciary is composed of the Washington Supreme Court and lower courts. There is also local government, consisting of counties, municipalities and special districts.

<i>Captive Audience</i> 2013 book by Susan P. Crawford

Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age is an American non-fiction book by the legal expert Susan P. Crawford.

This local electoral calendar for 2014 lists the subnational elections held in 2014. Referendums, retention elections, and national by-elections are also included.

The law of Washington consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law, as well as local ordinances. The Revised Code of Washington forms the general statutory law.

This local electoral calendar for 2016 lists the subnational elections held in 2016. Referendums, retention elections, and national by-elections are also included.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Virginia ballot measures</span>

The 2002 Virginia State Elections took place on Election Day, November 5, 2002, the same day as the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House elections in the state. The only statewide elections on the ballot were two constitutional referendums to amend the Virginia State Constitution and two government bond referendums. Because Virginia state elections are held on off-years, no statewide officers or state legislative elections were held. All referendums were referred to the voters by the Virginia General Assembly.

This local electoral calendar for 2018 lists the subnational elections held in 2018. Referendums, retention elections, and national by-elections are also included.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Converge ICT</span> Internet service provider in the Philippines

Converge ICT Solutions Inc., doing business as Converge, is a telecommunication service provider in the Philippines. It operates fiber optic broadband networks, Internet Protocol television, cable television, and cable Internet in the country. It had 1,969,663 FiberX subscribers as of June 2023 capturing 54% of the market share of fiber to the home in the country. As of 2022, the Converge fiber backbone reached 600,000 kilometers, passing through 495 cities and municipalities across the country.

One Touch Make Ready is the various statutes and local ordinances passed by various local governments and utilities in the United States, which require the owners of utility poles to allow a single construction crew to make changes to multiple utility wires.

This local electoral calendar for 2022 lists the subnational elections held in 2022. Referendums, recall and retention elections, and national by-elections are also included.

References

  1. "Premier Member Q&A: LUS Fiber". fiberbroadband.org. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  2. "Terry Huval, Retired Director of Lafayette Utilities System, shares historical overview of bringing Fiber Optic Broadband Network to Lafayette". Discover Lafayette. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  3. "Broadband at the Speed of Light" (PDF). Institute for Local Self Reliance. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  4. "Connecting Main Street to the World: Federal Efforts to Expand Small Business Internet Access: Hearing on SR-428A Before the S. Comm. on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 111th Cong., 2-3 (2010) (Testimony of Terry Huval, Director of Utilities, Lafayette, La.)" (PDF). sbc.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  5. "Technology". Lafayette Economic Development Authority. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  6. "BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE THE FIBER TO THE HOME COUNCIL IN SUPPORT OF LAFAYETTE CITY-PARISH CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT" (PDF). Baller Stokes & Lide. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  7. "Broadband at the Speed of Light" (PDF). Institute for Local Self Reliance. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  8. "Municipal Telecommunications Private Industry Safeguards Act". American Legislative Exchange Council. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  9. "Broadband at the Speed of Light" (PDF). Institute for Local Self Reliance. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  10. "Louisiana city blazes high-speed Web trail". USATODAY.COM. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  11. "Lafayette voters approve bonds to finance LUS FTTH proposal". lightwaveonline.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  12. "NAQUIN v. LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT". lp.findlaw.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  13. "American Public Power Association - LUS fiber-to-the-home project scores two more victories". www.publicpower.org. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  14. "2007-15.asp". www.lasc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  15. "LUS Fiber report optimistic". theadvocate.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.