Jamie
Part 1 in the Gigabit Whatcom series.
In 2018, Susan Crawford published Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution—and Why America Might Miss It, a landmark book arguing that high-speed, symmetrical internet access is as essential to modern civic life as electricity, paved roads, and clean water. Crawford showed how legacy telecommunications monopolies leave mid-sized and rural communities behind by underinvesting in last-mile infrastructure.
That vision was the catalyst for Gigabit Whatcom.
In Whatcom County, Washington, the digital divide is stark. Urban centers enjoy high-speed connections, while surrounding rural communities, from the Mt. Baker foothills to the agricultural corridors, have long struggled with spotty, overpriced, or nonexistent internet service.
We launched Gigabit Whatcom to advocate for treating fiber-optic infrastructure as a publicly owned, open-access utility. Under this model:
- Public ownership: Local public entities (such as the Port of Bellingham, Whatcom PUD, or municipalities) build, own, and maintain the dark fiber backbone and conduit.
- Private retail competition: Private internet service providers (ISPs) compete on that shared public network, delivering affordable, high-speed service to homes and businesses.
By separating ownership of the physical infrastructure from retail service, Gigabit Whatcom works to ensure that every resident of Whatcom County has access to fast, reliable, and affordable broadband.
Next in the series: Creating Everyone, Everywhere Affordable Broadband Access: The Core Framework
