Seattle Pulls Plug on Broadband Network

I wonder why telecommunications is such a neglected topic in the Puget Sound region. In Seattle, we're stuck with CenturyLink, Comcast (this being the better of three bad choices) or if you're really unlucky, Broadstripe. Only people who can afford to high-roll it in one of the downtown condos or apartments can get truly awesome connectivity through Condo Internet or one of the Covad resellers that still exists. This is in a city that hosts Amazon, Google, and large chunks of Microsoft.

On the Eastside, home to Nintendo and Microsoft, our choices are Comcast or Frontier. While Frontier does operate a FiOS system, this isn't available to every Eastside city (Bellevue, Issaquah, and Sammamish stand out), thus leaving Comcast or Frontier's copper network as the only choices.

Is it just not profitable to do data and/or video up here? Does everyone just use the Internet connectivity at the office then give up the computer when they get home?

Hope those bloated employee wages, pensions and bennies are worth it citizens of Seattle.

Make Bill Gates pay for it! It's not right he has so much money!!!!

Man, you need to make your sarcasm more obvious. I can't advocate him spending money for Seattle broadband instead of vaccines in Africa.

Vaccines for Africans when kittens are dying? You and Bill are monsters!

Don't bring employees/pensions/benefits into this, and BTW, linking to a 1000 page PDF, smart, give a summary if you're going to attack the good hard working people of Seattle. As if after 10 years this project was magically going to get off the ground? It took years of non-planning only to get shut down now.

As if CA doesn't have problems.

I'll be that guy that points out the drama and good press this creates while ignoring healthcare in the US. No sarcasm. Maybe if a bunch of well off job creators solved some problems in this country instead of creating wedges in society for political and financial gain it wouldn't leave people like me wondering why we need to help out poor foreign countries before helping out or own poor or lacking areas in the US.

Maybe if the Bill Gates of the world were actually creating something for Africa like manufacturing and local economies it would sit better but so far the people at the top seem to just be taking oil and diamonds and leaving religious wars behind in alternating swaths of the continent.

Where do you think the "needed" money is going? Certainly not for better "services" for the citizens of Seattle. And yeah, California is a disaster too, for the exact same reason.

Too bad the citizens of Seattle don't have the same rights to reform the system that those in San Jose (in Santa Clara County) do, and did yesterday by more than 2 to 1. A similar measure passed overwhelmingly in San Diego as well. The taxpayers have had enough of endlessly surrendering services and facing endless tax increases to fund public sector union largess.

It would be ever better if Africa created manufacturing and local economies for Africa.

It's the 3 P's at it again.. Piss Poor Planning.

It's not that hard to set up a decent wireless network and sure as hell shouldn't cost $100,000 with the right equipment and people.

..and no, you don't need extremely high end (and priced) equipment to do this.

And even that gets into rising needs for the US but I keep seeing things that say the US actually makes more things than ever so I guess I'm just not in the right market to ever own those things that have the old USA stamped on them. I'd like to kick the guy in the nuts that outsourced basic hand tool making to china. It also makes me wonder how china can make anything with those cheap tools or if they secretly have a domestic brand just for china because I can't see them assembling anything for very long with a wrench that says china on it.

People would have to be crazy to take up any government position in 2012, as the GOP establishment has made them the scapegoat of America's ails.

Rather than ask for industrialized world benefits from the private sector, Republicans actually want everyone to be reduced to Walmart wages too.

It's mindbogglingly and unprecedented in human history, that the GOP base is the only group of people on the planet that want less for everyone but the 1%.

Then again, Republicans like yourself have no problem whatsoever using illegal aliens to save a dime or profiteering off war, corruption, and oil money. After all, it's you who employees the majority of illegal aliens - not Google or Apple.

Republicans who live in liberal states are the worst of them all, as to you it's all about your bottom line, which is always given priority over America's prosperity.

BTW, Instead of being hypocritical and enjoying the perks of Democratic states, how about you leave 'liberal' California and move to Republicuuun country like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and so forth.

American consumers have the ballbat in hand to make corporations listen. Use your wallet. If they are greedy, then kick them in the nads for it while rewarding those companies that deserve it.

Controlling 70 percent of a 14 trillion dollar economy is a big enough club to get companies doing what you want without waiting for any laws or reforms.

I believe it was one of his campaign pledges to bring fourth a faster broadband internet access, now he's selling off every last bit of it.

This goes along with the last pledge in which he said he would honor the agreement met by the city council (to replace a waterfront elevated highway with a tunnel) and not attempt to block its construction. Within weeks of being sworn in, he led a campaign to block the tunnel project, which utterly failed.

All the mayor cares about is pushing light rail / street car transit and more bike lanes (but make drivers pay 100% of it). He's a one term mayor that really doesnt care about anything else.

Maybe the next mayor will have a spine.

100% agree. Now for the hard part, trying to educate the average American about this power.

This freedom to choose is also why the plutocrats and Koch types have a real disdain for government.

You are aware that Africa is a continent and not a country right?

Oh no, they're plenty educated. Even us silly folks on the left coast, both Dummycrats and Republitards have figured out the current government overspending is unsustainable and fleecing business isn't the solution.

I wish I had faith that would happen but I am not going to hold my breath.

There are a lot of smart guys with good info on this site but how many complain about data prices and other problems but still send in their checks every month to the same companies they complain about?

Of course, consumers also have a small part in this in their race for cheap too.

Sure, didn't say it wasn't. There isn't any one particular county in Africa that couldn't benefit from an industrial economy fueled by their immense resources of labor and natural resources. If there was a particular country I had it mind, I would have mentioned it.

California's problems have more to do with across the board under-taxation in various areas, the massive drain of illegal aliens and anchor babies, and the huge issue with crime. Now add in the tens of billions remitted abroad by these workers, that have no long-term vested interest in the place.

People in other states purchase billions of dollars of goods from CA and do not pay a dime in tax. Implement a federal GST and this problem is solved overnight, with the appropriate funds redistributed back to CA. It also close numerous black and grey market loopholes.

So you're also aware that some countries in Africa are doing great and others aren't doing so hot, and that there isn't necessarily a continent wide strategy to address this?

Which countries are doing "great"? And this number, if it exists is high enough to not warrant an Africa-zone strategy for optimal economic development?

There is no under-taxation going on in California and giving more money to a government that is completely out of control and rampant with fraud, waste and corruptions is not the solution to any problem.

Government doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a beyond horrible spending problem. Government at all levels is a virus that must be contained for the host, as in the people, to prosper. Without containment we clearly see it grows like a tumor until it finally kills the host.

Liberal hypocrites should stop expecting everyone else to pay for their stuff and stop blaming everyone else for their problems and laziness. Maybe if they didn't waste 4 years in school getting a degree in Art History with a minor in Sanskit they would have a salable skill and wouldn't be blaming "The Man" for their situation.

Liberals can try raising my taxes but what will happen is I simply fire my employees and take my business and jobs to another state as so many other small businesses have. And you may say good but when the productive part of society is gone liberals will have no one one to pull the cart full of the unproductive citizens. Meanwhile they'll start with my taxes and finish with yours and when you start having to pay you will change your tune just like the liberals in San Jose did yesterday.

Why do they need to carry the weight of the rest of the Continent? If they're capable they should be pursuing countries who can afford to pay top dollar for their products no?

I just asked which countries were doing "great". I don't see any doing "great". What I see is the African Union squandering an opportunity to be an economic superpower.

So, you want the African Union to attempt to become econonmically unified? It's working so well for the Europeans after all.

Not profitable enough for ISP's who would prefer to not invest in any form of upgrade. Frontier is in bad financial shape besides.Yes, which is why productivity is down.

Perhaps you should educate yourself about Africa, rather than dictating armchair economic policies to them.

It's the unified currency causing the issues in the EU and there is no reason why an economic union would require a single currency. If Greece didn't use the Euro, they would simply print money and have higher inflation than say Germany. The Greek problem is the same as California's problem...they over-promise but can't print their way out of it like the Fed can. The AU members have their own currencies now, but they could work closely together on free trade agreements and economic resources, pooling their efforts for economic development. But that won't happen so long as corruption is rampant.

Perhaps you should list us these African nations that are doing so "great' as you claimed originally. Evidently it is you in need of an education regarding the economics and state of development (or lack thereof) in Africa.

Even countries you would THINK would be doing on the better end of good, like SA has a 24% unemployment rates despite tolerable GDP growth, which isn't stellar for an emerging economy.