Like dozens of other cities across the country, Seattle is currently in the midst of a mayoral race.
"Big Telecom doesn't really have the most creative responses [to a municipal network proposal]," said Devin Glaser, the policy and political director for Upgrade Seattle, a municipal broadband advocacy group.
"But what they do is put lots and lots of money behind people who find reasons to dislike the idea.".
About 15 percent of Seattleites don't have access to the internet, according to the city's most recent survey.
That's why Seattle has been mulling over the idea of a municipal broadband network—which would deliver high-speed internet as a public utility, like electricity—for decades.
But the two mayoral candidates have very different stances on whether such a network is the right idea.
Seattle is heading to the polls on November 7, when we'll find out whether Big Telecom got its money's worth this time around. »