Municipal Report > ?!?!?!

reply to AmeritecTech

Re: ?!?!?!

said by AmeritecTech:

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Putting the taxpayers even AT RISK of having to pay for this is unethical. Want non-corporate broadband? Fine. Form a non-profit organization, get investors, and deploy broadband which will be user-funded. Leave the government and the taxpayer out of the equation.

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said by JakCrow:

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said by AmeritecTech:

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Putting the taxpayers even AT RISK of having to pay for this is unethical. Want non-corporate broadband? Fine. Form a non-profit organization, get investors, and deploy broadband which will be user-funded. Leave the government and the taxpayer out of the equation.

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Good idea. Remember that next time the telco industry wants another hand out.

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AmeritecTech,

There is a company here in Hawaii called Sandwich Isles
Communications. It is receiving 400 million
in USDA Rural Utility Service loans. Which will be repaid
by Universal Service Fund. The fiber-optic network will be only used by Native Hawaiians living on Department of Hawaiian Homelands 69 land areas statewide Hawaii.If you want to talk
about pork barrel monies for one group this is the poster child.

That is indeed a pretty large chunk of pork.

I simply don't understand why these things can't be VOLUNTARY. Anyone who wants a fiber network can help come up with the startup capital and they can leave the unwilling taxpayers out of it. Those who helped fund the startup get to play ball. What is so wrong with that?

What burns me up and why I spent a few months fighting this project it was racially exclusionary [That only Native Hawaiians could use the network]. On top of it since the 400 million would be repaid by the Universal Service Fund [A fund that anyone with a landline pays into] comes into play
since only select few would be able to use it.

reply to AmeritecTech

said by AmeritecTech:

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I simply don't understand why these things can't be VOLUNTARY. Anyone who wants a fiber network can help come up with the startup capital and they can leave the unwilling taxpayers out of it. Those who helped fund the startup get to play ball. What is so wrong with that?

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Sandwich Isles Communications is using public right of way
but is providing service to only DHHL areas. I tried to
convey the fact this project was exclusionary to USDA RUS,
FCC,Hawaii PUC, USF etc but all I got was the runaround.
SIC applied to be a RuLEC and evidently the USDA RUS loan
PRECLUDES them from serving non-DHHL areas.

reply to marigolds

said by marigolds:

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said by AmeritecTech:

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I simply don't understand why these things can't be VOLUNTARY. Anyone who wants a fiber network can help come up with the startup capital and they can leave the unwilling taxpayers out of it. Those who helped fund the startup get to play ball. What is so wrong with that?

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Well, the only minor flaw is that you cannot make it exclusionary if you use the public right of ways unless you are a muni. The main reason the Hawaii project is exclusionary is because a federal law takes presidence. Other than wireless, trying to get around the ROW rules is pretty annoying.
One way to pull it off is that you can require new users to pay for the full cost -if- the density is under a certain amount (normally around 20 households per fiber mile). This is a much lower density than it sounds though and the amount you can make them pay does not offset the full cost of laying fiber.

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said by AmeritecTech:

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said by marigolds:

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said by AmeritecTech:

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I simply don't understand why these things can't be VOLUNTARY. Anyone who wants a fiber network can help come up with the startup capital and they can leave the unwilling taxpayers out of it. Those who helped fund the startup get to play ball. What is so wrong with that?

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Well, the only minor flaw is that you cannot make it exclusionary if you use the public right of ways unless you are a muni. The main reason the Hawaii project is exclusionary is because a federal law takes presidence. Other than wireless, trying to get around the ROW rules is pretty annoying.
One way to pull it off is that you can require new users to pay for the full cost -if- the density is under a certain amount (normally around 20 households per fiber mile). This is a much lower density than it sounds though and the amount you can make them pay does not offset the full cost of laying fiber.

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The municipal authority can still grant a non-profit exclusive right to hang fiber on existing utility poles. This can be done without costing the taxpayer a dime.

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