A report that Roanoke, Virginia’s muni wireless network “is about as reliable as a drive-through speaker at a fast-food joint” points out the need of munis to define and insist on performance metrics in their public-private partnerships.A report that Roanoke, Virginia’s muni wireless network “is about as reliable as a drive-through speaker at a fast-food joint” points out the need of munis to define and insist on performance metrics in their public-private partnerships.
There’s a lot of finger-pointing going on in Roanoke, the city that the Center for Digital Government last year named the Top Digital City in the U.S. City officials are unhappy with the performance they’re getting from the network. Cox Communications, the provider in Roanoke, says it’s delivering what’s demanded in the service-level agreement it has with the city.
Since Cox owns the network, Roanoke city officials say it’s Cox’ responsibility to fix it. Cox says if the city wants better performance, it will need to purchase and install more equipment.
The spat should be instructive to munis engaging in public private partnerships if they’re serious about providing a quality service to their residents. It’s not enough just to find a private builder to deploy and operate the network; if you want quality service from it, you have to set the expectation with a service agreement that stands up.
Click here to read the story.
No comments yet.