Seattle councilmember calls for "mass citywide movement" against Comcast and CenturyLink in support of municipal broadband
BY TAYLOR SOPER
Seattle councilmember Kshama Sawant wants a municipal broadband network in the Emerald City, and she's calling on the city's residents to join forces to make it happen.
Sawant, a former software engineer who was elected to the Seattle City Council as a socialist candidate in January 2014, penned a blog post today advocating a city-owned network that would make Internet a public utility.
"The purpose of a public internet utility is to provide high-speed, affordable and equitable internet coverage to all Seattle neighborhoods, residents, and businesses," she wrote. "Municipal broadband can be a powerful lever against the digital divide that condemns people to the isolation and reduced economic opportunities experienced by many of our low-income, disabled, and people of color community members."