[opendtv] Re: B&C: Bill Would Prevent State Efforts to Limit Muni Broadband
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2018 08:59:35 -0500
On Jan 18, 2018, at 3:48 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Honestly, the Party of Stupid seems unable to get past their dumbass slogans,
and undermine their own cause in so doing. This should not be a partisan
issue. Municipal broadband can only gain in popularity, if people see a
corrupt FCC working against the people's best interests. If Republicans
insist on stacking the deck against what people want, only because they can't
do better than parrot each other's simplistic slogans, they'll lose big time.
This is a State issue Bert. I’m not taking sides, but the “regulatory state” is
alive and well both in D.C. and in almost every State capital. If the Dems can
get this bill through Congress - they cannot - it will set off another round of
litigation. As always the lobbyists and lawyers are the big winners.
Another Bert Net Neutrality rant deleted...
ISPs have long argued that such buildouts targeting the "underserved" often
result in overbuilding commercial providers with government subsidies and
leave taxpayers holding the bag if those buildouts can't make it as going
concerns.
Bert conveniently ignores this reality. The USF was abused during the last
administration, with a significant portion of the funding awarded to companies
overbuilding in areas that already had one or two 25/3 services.
The new rules and reverse auction are an effort to direct the universal service
funds to areas where they are actually needed. It is worth noting that these
funds are NOT needed by municipal systems, as these system have major cost
advantages over commercial systems that use pay for right-of-ways and pole
attachments.
The most important consideration moving forward is technical innovation,
especially as it relates to fixed wireless broadband. It’s easy to sell the
idea that municipal systems can provide services at lower rates that commercial
competitors. Small wonder - municipal systems can cherry pick and offer lower
rates to get their foot in the door.
But history informs us that in the long run, for system that are well managed,
the profits are just another form of local taxation, and in MANY cases the
rates are comparable or higher than the commercial services that pay the
municipalities for access and are then taxed as well...
Regards
Craig
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