[opendtv] Re: Charter promises Internet service to family--then says it'll cost $16,000
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2017 06:26:23 -0500
On Dec 24, 2017, at 7:22 PM, Manfredi, Albert E <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I don't think that's the most important point made in this article, however.
In fact, most of the article mentions obstacles that are real enough, and
nothing to get overly indignant about. Except this one sentence:
"The [Michigan] law also prevents public entities from providing telecom
services outside their boundaries."
Welcome to the REGULATORY STATE Bert...
You seem focused on the FCC, but they are just one layer of the problem. You
have Congress that tells the FCC what to do, and 50 States (plus DC) that have
their own telecom regulatory bodies, that get their orders from the State
legislators. And then you have local franchise authorities and utilities that
control access to individual markets.
EVERYBODY IS SUCKING OFF OF THE REGULATED MONOPOLY TEETS.
IT’S CALLED THE UTILITY CASH COW.
The telcos and cable companies must deal with all of these regulators AND
spread their campaign contributions around to the politicians who decide what
the states and cities can do.
It IS a corrupt system. But you cannot fix it with MORE regulation.
It is also worth noting that the big companies are well versed at playing the
regulatory game, with teams of lawyers and lobbyists in DC, and EVERY State. It
is the little rural companies and new start-ups that are disadvantaged by
having to play the heavy handed regulatory game, which is exactly what Chairman
Pai said when the Title II regime was revoked.
I do not understand why so many people were supporting the FCC’s heavy handed
TItle II regulation of ISPs, given the sordid history of Communications
regulation in the United States.
Fortunately, at least for now, the latest intrusion into government regulation
of communications has been NEUTERED.
If you are neutered, doesn’t that make you NEUTRAL?
Did you notice the little comment about the various costs that contributed to
the $16,000 price for running wires to this guys house?
The cost included materials, labor and PERMITTING. Everybody gets a chance at
the teet.
This is why the FCC included the provisions in the recent Internet order to
preclude state and local governments from piling on their own regulations. And
this is why the FCC is trying to keep the cost of pole attachments and
right-of-way fees under control.
To me, what matters, and what the FCC *should* be doing, is trying to get to
the bottom of the above state regulation. Instead of pretending to do that in
an indirect way, by getting in bed with the broadband companies, with no
guarantee of success. No amount of "transparency," i.e. companies explaining
how they are screwing their customers, will fix the problem described in that
one and only sentence.
And exactly how does allowing government entities to compete with commercial
communications services solve any problems?
The reality is that the local governments have a very mixed record with respect
to broadband deployments. There have been some great success stories, and some
catastrophic failures. When a municipal system fails, the taxpayers get the
bill, as happened recently here in Dunellon (a $10 million bill for the
taxpayers). And when a municipal system is a success, the profits are used to
subsidize the government that owns the system.
And sometimes the municipal systems just pick the low hanging fruit, as they
are doing here in Gainesville, by running fiber to high density apartment
complexes, while the commercial providers are forced to deploy the more
expensive infrastructure to single family residences.
Instead, the crooked FCC is deflecting the focus, talking about the big bad
web sites, while working its best to benefit the private local monopolies.
What phonies.
That is not deflection Bert. It is an EQUALLY important aspect of Net
Neutrality. You cannot force the ISPs to follow the bright line rules, and look
the other way when monopoly Edge Providers blatantly block some people based on
viewpoint.
For some reason all of the folks who were inspired by Obama, John Oliver, et
al, to ALLOW the FCC to regulate ISPs, don’t seem to care that Net Neutrality
is Fake News when the content is not neutral. They just want access to the
stuff that supports THEIR Point of View, and they strongly support services
that block other viewpoints...
Go figure...
(It is instructive to note that when push came to shove, the municipal
broadband service, which was allowed to come to the rescue, provided the
"last mile" link with terrestrial wireless. Who knows why the private
companies don't use terrestrial wireless, in such circumstances.)
There are commercial wireless providers Bert, not to mention satellite, which
this very biased author completely ignored. If this family had no other option
but satellite broadband, the story would not have ended so well. But that was
the whole point of the article, wasn’t it?
The good news is that the ISP infrastructure is still under construction, and
wireless broadband is going to provide many new options for real competition in
urban areas, and affordable deployments in rural areas.
Yesterday I was at an AT&T store, buying myself a Christmas present - my wife
is letting ME finance a new iPhone X on our family plan. Just inside the door
was a large sign that said “AT&T Fiber.” it had pictures of local neighborhoods
where FTTH is currently being deployed.
All of the neighborhoods pictured appear to be newer “high end” subdivisions
with underground utilities. So it looks like AT&T is “cherry picking” the
single family homes in Gainesville.
The competition is coming...
Regards
Craig
Bert
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