Where will you set your prices? In Chattanooga, Tenn., the city's utility president said it set the price for its super-fast broadband service at $350 "because we can." After private competitors offered lower prices, the city network lowered theirs. Are you sure you know how to accurately price this service?

Will revenues cover costs? A mistake municipal leaders commonly make is overestimating demand and whether that demand will provide revenue sufficient to cover the cost of building, maintaining and upgrading the network. For example, in Burlington, Vt., only about 10% of those served by the Burlington Telecom network eventually chose to subscribe. With penetration numbers like this, deficits mount. How did you arrive at your revenue estimates? Is it worth getting a second opinion?

Do you have a contingency plan if revenues don't cover costs? In Utah, city leaders raised sales taxes, even on people who didn't use the municipal broadband service. Are you willing to take more out of your residents' pockets even if they don't want, or use, the service?

Have you assessed the risk of bond ratings being cut due to problems with municipal broadband networks? This scenario has played out in several cities, including Chattanooga. You know that lower bond ratings mean higher borrowing costs: How will you cover these additional costs, which will apply to all debt? Will you cut funding for schools? Law enforcement? Fire protection?

Which future investments will be impacted? Many municipal networks are funded through bonds, not direct taxpayer investment. However, even if bonds are the funding source, cities and counties can take on only so much debt. What future investments are you willing to sacrifice or delay in order to run municipal broadband system? A new library? Traditional infrastructure, like roads and bridges?

Do you have the necessary technical or business expertise? Speaking of traditional infrastructure, creating part of the information superhighway isn't at all like creating a highway and filling in the occasional pothole. Broadband infrastructure requires constant technical upgrades and new investment. Can your city or county afford these expenditures to keep your network on the competitive cutting edge?

Do you support a level playing field? The purpose of many of state laws is to make sure there is a level playing field. To help make municipal networks more profitable, many city leaders have exempted the networks from taxes, fees and other rules that private providers must abide by. In Tennessee, city-owned networks even lobbied the legislature to raise taxes on private networks. What subsidies would you give your network? Are these advantages fair, and have you considered what impact they would have on existing and future competition to provide high-speed broadband services, consumer prices for broadband services and outside capital investment?

What effect will your network have on competition? Many municipal network supporters say their efforts will enhance competition in their localities by giving consumers another option; however, municipal networks may also have a chilling effect on new entrants coming to the market. In Tennessee, smaller providers have opted not to enter the Chattanooga market because of the city network.

How low are you willing to go? Provo, Utah; Groton, Conn.; and Marietta, Ga. each sold their municipal network for multi-million dollars losses. If, after a few years of persistent deficits, are you willing to get out of the business and sell? Do you have an off ramp? If so, what is an acceptable loss?

The Digital Policy Institute shares the vision of the National Broadband Plan that Internet service should be universally accessible, affordable, and reliable. While government-owned networks can serve a role in areas where there are no other providers, DPI urges policymakers to proceed with caution and evaluate the benefits along with the risks.

— Barry Umansky, Professor of Telecommunications, Ball State University, and Senior Fellow, Digital Policy Institute (DPI) at Ball State University; and Robert Yadon, Professor of Information and Communication Sciences, Ball State University, and Director, DPI.