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It seems a little odd to me that Google is going to be allowed to use public land for these huts, apparently without compensation.
I think that Google pays in the range of $2-$5/sqft for each lease, but I'm not sure if that's per month or per year. Google insists on a non-discrimination clause, which means that other carriers can take advantage of the same deal.
Leases for hut land will net the town an estimated $4200-$7000 per year. I believe that's based on $2/sf/year, making it $1400 per hut when they were estimating 3-5 huts needed.
My understanding is the $2/sf annual rate is uniform across Triangle municipalities involved in Google Fiber, agreed to by all parties for consistency.
It seems a little odd to me that Google is going to be allowed to use public land for these huts, apparently without compensation.
As mentioned, there is compensation, that is part of what the initial town responses prior to the actual selection was all about, so these things could be anticipated and thought through ahead of time. The areas they will end up using are probably unused public land that has no other real function anyway and this project serves the public good by expanding the services to residents and reducing costs for other services by way of competition so I think it's a good deal overall.
As mentioned, there is compensation, that is part of what the initial town responses prior to the actual selection was all about, so these things could be anticipated and thought through ahead of time. The areas they will end up using are probably unused public land that has no other real function anyway and this project serves the public good by expanding the services to residents and reducing costs for other services by way of competition so I think it's a good deal overall.
Public good, yes.
The "compensation" is clearly nominal, probably to serve mostly as valuable consideration in exchange for the lease to avoid appearance of an illusory contract that could be challenged.
Public good, yes.
The "compensation" is clearly nominal, probably to serve mostly as valuable consideration in exchange for the lease to avoid appearance of an illusory contract that could be challenged.
I agree. The towns are certainly not going to be reducing taxes any time soon over this "windfall." But, I wonder how much ATT, Frontier and TWC pay the towns for the boxes they have all over the place.? I don't really know, but I'm guessing in most places it's a big fat pile of zero.
I agree. The towns are certainly not going to be reducing taxes any time soon over this "windfall." But, I wonder how much ATT, Frontier and TWC pay the towns for the boxes they have all over the place.? I don't really know, but I'm guessing in most places it's a big fat pile of zero.
But, don't those boxes generally tend to exist in existing ROWs and easements that were created in common areas when the subdivisions were platted?
I'd prefer to be using municipal fiber in Durham right now instead of twiddling my thumbs waiting for Google Fiber huts on public property but it is what it is when certain laws were passed. Pass stupid laws, expect nominal compensation to circumvent them.
It seems a little odd to me that Google is going to be allowed to use public land for these huts, apparently without compensation.
Google is compensating participating cities in more than one way. They are paying for use of the land and also providing free internet to hospitals and government buildings (including public libraries and public schools, ect.) Along with these benefits for the city, they are creating real competition while allowing their competitors to piggy back on their infrastructure, and they provide free internet to any individuals who pay a $300 deposit, paid at $25 per month for 12 months. The benefits of the fiber project outweigh any philosophical belief that one may have about public land use.
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