An election is all about choices. Do you want Candidate A or Candidate B? Are you for Proposition 19 or against it? Will Judge John Doe be retained in office or not?

To make an election worthwhile, one needs to have alternatives from which to choose. Democracy wouldn’t get very far if there were only one party, one candidate, one solution, and no opportunity to take a stand one way or another. With a real choice, we are empowered.

As an article yesterday from Community Broadband Networks states,

Markets work best when no single player can dictate terms. While we are so far from that ideal in telecommunications as to wonder if it is even possible, some antitrust is surely better than none. Better to have four national cellular carriers than just three (or two).

And on the wireline side, limiting the predatory behavior of the Comcast and other cable giants will encourage investment and new competition—both from the private and public sector. But that is precisely what the big guys are lobbying against—the opportunity for new competition.

UTOPIA empowers the citizens of its member communities with a real choice for their broadband needs. Rather than having one choice—which is no choice at all—for “high-speed” (so-called) broadband, UTOPIA subscribers can choose from several providers. The choice is made on the merits, as each offers broadband fast enough to meet user’s needs in our on-line, data-centric modern world. In fact, maybe one of the harder choices subscribers will have to make is, “50/50 or 100/100?”

Real choice matters!