2farfromCO7
join:2000-10-14
Farmington, MI | Make the monopolies make counter-proposals
I say, make the monopolies put their money where their mouth is. Have them put a counter proposal on the ballot. With stipulations and stiff and unappealable penalties if they don't meet their promised deployment goes. |
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Eatmeingreek
Gentard
join:2001-06-29
San Francisco, CA
| Never mind.
Error!
[text was edited by author 2003-03-25 13:22:29] |
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BBC4544
join:2002-03-12
Saint Peters, MO
| full steam ahead at your cost
so just like an average politician. "we are going to do it whether it works or not. i am not paying for it."
[text was edited by author 2003-03-25 14:09:21]
[text was edited by author 2003-03-25 14:17:10] |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| Well I can see the mayors' point....these companies have paid a nice sum to confuse and otherwise bewilder the public into thinking these municipal projects are nothing but fancy and quite ludicrous....it would be sad for the whole plan to go down the toilet because people were too lazy to actually do research into the issue and make an educated decision...
If I were mayor and I were certain that this plan was well designed and could bring jobs, competition, and lower rates to the area, I'd push forward too....and let them name a few Gazebos after me in area parks several years later once people see the effects like residents of Tacoma are witnessing with the low rates offered by Click! network..... |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Cox HSI
| reply to BBC4544
Not exactly.
1) Big monopolies don't care. Non-responsive. Sit back and won't help...
2) So... Mayor et all works on alternatives, comes up with a good plan for local residents, and starts pushing for it.
3) Big monopolies suddenly realize they are about to be blown out of the water, so they roar back pouring big dollars into trashing the Cities plan and dissing the Mayor and trying to kill their proposal.
No wonder he's pissed, and he's right: These companies just don't care or give a damn. If they win, they'll roll out the minimum required at the maximum the market will bear. The cities plan is MUCH better.
I wish I had a mayor and council who cared half as much as these ones do.
--
"When the day comes that anyone can bend our country’s laws and lawmakers to serve selfish, competitive ends, that day democratic government dies" -- Preston Tucker, 1948 (Yep, it's dead.) |
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kmoss
join:2002-09-14
Lisle, IL
| It won't matter...
Come April 1, it won't matter much what the voters say. If it gets voted in, they MAY build it - and by the time they get done (with luck sometime in another 18-24 months), I bet a good portion of the people who voted for it won't even be living there anymore (voters do move, you know). By then, Comcast will have upgraded the local infrastructure and be offering 3500/384k for next to nothing just to blow the municipality away. The masses will want a stable, cheap connection - and won't care who it comes from. The whole endeavor, while it sounds great now, will lose steam over the long haul. Then, to pay off the $62mil for building it, tricities will have to sell off the network to the most likely bidders of SBC or Comcast and the residents will be right back to square one. |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T CallVantage
·Comcast Digital Vo..
·Comcast
| I have to disagree if SBC/Comcast make voters think they are the better choice when the vote is over. The communities will suffer because once SBC/Comcast knows they have those areas. They will take there sweet time in getting the service out to everyone.
Municipal Broadband is a great idea!! |
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ib50MbSoon
Formerly TwoKDialup
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI
| Bring on the VOIP!
"One woman wrote her local editor to complain about the local leaders trying to pitch the broadband idea as a "necessity of life". "I raised two very intelligent children without cable television and high-speed Internet", argues the woman. "Necessity of life? Whose life?"
She may change her mind when she finds out with a real broadband connection (I'm not talking about upstream-impaired telco DSL) she could video-chat with her grandkids 1000 miles away, for free I might add.
And that beats a 10 cent per min voice call any day!
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Earthlink/DirecWay SRS | SatMex 5-990 |
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BBC4544
join:2002-03-12
Saint Peters, MO | reply to Karl Bode
Re: full steam ahead at your cost
where is the competition with government broadband???? |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| It's LOCAL government first off...not nearly the threat SBC paints it as....National government tax payer supported broadband...that might be a threat, but that's not occurring.
The competition comes from the municipal offerings themselves....the telco and cable company's are immediately thrust into a price war, and subsequent quality war.....
Years of no competition has left them "fat and stupid" so to speak, with no reason to cut costs or really improve other than to compete with Satellite....
Check out Click! Network:
»www.wired.com/news/business/0,13···,00.html |
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lesopp
join:2001-06-27
Land O Lakes, FL
| reply to BBC4544
Where is the competition with the current oligopoly? In the five or so years DSL has been out has any bell DSL division ever tried to win customers over from the other bells. The answer is no and it is probably due to collusion.
Could it be people are tired of being pawns for the bells, tired of being held hostage, tired of crappy support, tired of lies and deceit.
When these communities come together and cooperatively put in broadband, the ILEC and cable providers find themselves forced into competitive practices. From what I read once this is in, customers will have a choice of phone, Internet and cable TV services.
The "its my way or the highway" corporate strategy for winning customers won't work anymore. |
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Agent 86
| Voodoo economics
These discussions have a "free lunch" quality to them.
If people were willing to pay the price for a deluxe fiber network, the private sector would build it.
They aren't. Just ask WINfirst. |
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FrankL6
Purity Of Essence
join:2002-07-01
Algonquin, IL
| None of this would be a problem...
...if Comcast/SBC would take half the money they spend on advertising and used it to upgrade their networks.
When comcast took over here, they ran a bunch of TV ads saying that they aren't just going to move in and expect people to like them, they're going to "earn" it. Unfortunately, they spend more on telling us they're going to earn it than actually earning it.
When will these guys learn that the best advertising is having good product?
I hope Tri-City broadband is a success. Then maybe my town will start its own municipal broadband project. Either that or Comcast and SBC will finally start upgrading the area. |
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kmoss
join:2002-09-14
Lisle, IL | reply to gdm
Re: It won't matter...
They're already building it - many areas are already done. The COs are lit for DSL, many cable subscribers already have cable modems. Can everybody get everything? No, but join the rest of us. |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
| reply to kmoss
said by kmoss  :
By then, Comcast will have upgraded the local infrastructure and be offering 3500/384k for next to nothing just to blow the municipality away.
And if they never build it, then Comcast will never offer that speed and cheap price, either. They'll sit back, and charge whatever the market will bear.
--
"When the day comes that anyone can bend our country’s laws and lawmakers to serve selfish, competitive ends, that day democratic government dies" -- Preston Tucker, 1948 (Yep, it's dead.) |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| reply to Agent 86
Re: Voodoo economics
There's plenty of people not willing to fund the bombing of Iraq, yet Ta-Da!
It's the wonder of government...they assume what's in your best interests and make it happen...sometime whether you like it or not.
In this one case of municipal broadband, I agree with them. It's an amazing twist in the broadband story that has the potential to keep the oligopolies honest...or at least trying.... |
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vic102482
Premium
join:2002-04-30
Upper Marlboro, MD | Lawsuit anyone?
Comcast is BLATENTLY spreading propaganda trying to destroy another startups reputation. Whats going on here?
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I tie a rope around my penis and jump from a tree, don't you wanna grow up to be just like me!!!! |
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FrankL6
Purity Of Essence
join:2002-07-01
Algonquin, IL
| reply to kmoss
Re: It won't matter...
They may be building it, but it should have been built long ago. One of the main reasons why Batavia, Geneva, and St. Charles picked ATTBB as a cable provider was that they promised the cities that they would upgrade the area if they signed with them. They lied and are now paying for it. |
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kmoss
join:2002-09-14
Lisle, IL | reply to KrK
Yes, and the taxpayers who live in those towns who want nothing to do with high speed internet won't have to worry about anything - at the expense of the 10% of people who live there that want broadband. |
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kmoss
join:2002-09-14
Lisle, IL
| reply to FrankL6
Upgrade it to what? When were these promises made? Just playing devils advocate here, but I want proof that ATT broadband promised a system upgrade on a specific timetable. Then, why the $62 million initiative? What about a class action lawsuit instead for failure to provide services as advertised? |
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