James Carlini has a must-read article that has some solid data on the value of municipal investments in broadband, as well as some fascinating historical data that shows community investments in "new" infrastructure pay off.
Carlini has new data on the Waterloo, Iowa and Cedar Falls, Iowa comparison (here is a one page summary--look for the handout titled Case Studies). Waterloo, Iowa decided to let the cable and telelphone company decide what kind of broadband the community had. Twenty-five miles away, Cedar Falls, with less developable land and some other economic development disadvantages, invested in community fiber. Five years later, Cedar Falls lowered taxes slightly, and Waterloo had to raise taxes. Why? Because business investment in Cedar Falls boomed because of the community fiber, and economic development in Waterloo stalled.
Carlini also provides some historical data on St. Louis and Chicago. At the end of the Civil War, St. Louis was the major gateway to the West because it dominated water-based trade. Chicago was much less prosperous, and decided to really push railroads. St. Louis decided to pass laws that discouraged railroad development, and tried to protect water routes by discouraged railroad bridges across the Mississippi. The result--Chicago's population boomed from the economic development the railroads brought, while St. Louis barely grew at all.
We're at the same place today. The telephone and cable companies are trying to get our legislators to hold back the railroads to protect canal barge traffic. Does your community want to be St. Louis or Chicago? Waterloo or Cedar Falls?