The Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C., is taking exception to many of the conclusions reached in a recently released study by University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Christopher Yoo and Co-Author Timothy Pfenninger that generally doesn’t show a solid financial footing for many American municipal fiber networks. “Municipal Fiber in the United States: An Empirical Assessment of Financial Performance” concludes that 11 out of the 20 muni fiber networks assessed do not generate enough cash to cover their current operating costs, and only two out of the 20 are on track to recover their total project costs during their 30-40 years of expected useful life. (Read more about the report here.)

ILSR says that from its perspective, many of the assumptions and the scope of the data included are “problematic.”

“For example, on the successful Chattanooga EPB network, we see Yoo simply taking data from 2008 to 2014, not during its recent successes. Another assertion that Yoo has actually rescinded from his report (thanks to our inquiries) is that he argued that Wilson, N.C.’s network has a balloon-style payment at the end when that’s simply not true,” ILSR Communications Manager Nick Stumo-Langer notes.

ILSR also argues that what’s “especially dubious about this report (in multiple places) is that Yoo hasn’t spoken with the city leaders that have the networks they are critiquing.” The Institute reports it is in contact with Yoo about its other concerns with the study.