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NewMariner
join:2005-06-24

1 recommendation

NewMariner

Member

When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

Seems to me that Geneva is just pissed that their voters voted against their FTTH program due to them not wanting to pay for it. And you cant tell me that a city government is going to build something and not charge its citizens for it...

They saw they could make some extra money by providing FTTH but the taxpayers didnt approve it, so now they want to force AT&T into providing services to them and force AT&T to pay fees to do so...

Sorry Mr Collins that is completely wrong as broadband is NOT A UTILITY. NOR IS CABLE..Phone service, gas, electricity and water are the only UTILITIES which MUST be provided to everyone....BROADBAND is not among that category. I hope AT&T buries ya'll.

Octopussy2
Premium Member
join:2003-03-30
Batavia, IL

Octopussy2

Premium Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

You can't make that leap that Geneva is pissed off so they won't allow deployment. First of all, the CITIES of Batavia, Geneva, and St. Charles had second referendums run by a citizen's group, not the CITIES.

And what about all the other IL cities who have also passed moritoriums? What is THEIR beef with AT&T? They didn't run referendums for muni broadband.

If AT&T wants to bring in their service they can offer services to all residents of a community. To allow redlining is irresponsible for City Staffs.
NewMariner
join:2005-06-24

NewMariner

Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

Actually its not that far of a leap. Let me shorten it for you.

Geneva wanted to create FTTH network($$$$ For City Gov as income)
Geneva citizens voted against it as they didnt want to pay for the network

Some citizens wanted to do so, they petitioned to go another round with voters...

Voters voted no.

AT&T wants to upgrade area with FTTN, to bring in VOIP, IPTV, Broadband, what have you. AT&T forks out money, AT&T makes the money on the return with customers signing up.

Geneva gets mad at AT&T because they are not paying stupid franchise fees, and taking away their money they could have made off of their FTTH...

Why would a citizen agree to pay for something when a company is willing to provide comparable service for no charge to the citizen?

cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

cbrigante2

Premium Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

So explain to me why my city (North Aurora) is being sued as well. We had no muni projects voted down, and only imposed the build out freeze to make sure AT&T signs and abides by the same franchise agreement as Comcast has to to deliver video content?
NewMariner
join:2005-06-24

NewMariner

Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

I think this explains everything

"same franchise agreement as Comcast has to to deliver video content"

Why should they have to sign a franchise agreement? Except to pay the city council their mafia money.

Cable doesnt pay federal fees to provide phone service, they dont have to provide phone service to everyone like the phone companies..Why should phone companies have to sign something when the cable companies dont either?

Why not level the playing field instead of picking on one company?

cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

cbrigante2

Premium Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

So what would you suggest? Higher property taxes?

The agreement also covers making sure EVERYONE in the city gets access to service.
NewMariner
join:2005-06-24

NewMariner

Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

Why should a PRIVATELY owned company be FORCED to sell to people? If they dont want to sell to someone then thats their prerogative isnt it?

Of course I dont like redlining and I would be pissed of if I was redlined. However it is their company and they will do as they please, just like you would if it is yours. Your option is to either move to get services you like, or find an alternate provider for your services.

My ideal scenario would be for the Government to take over the lines to the home..have the phone/tv lines as ONE line, and then of course your gas and electric lines. Then force all the telcos and cablecos to change their networks to accomodate to that 1 line and then they all just become service providers. The line itself is regulated or controlled as a utility, and then you have a choice as to which service provider you want...I think this is the only way you would really have a choice in anything.

cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

cbrigante2

Premium Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

said by NewMariner:

Why should a PRIVATELY owned company be FORCED to sell to people? If they dont want to sell to someone then thats their prerogative isnt it?
Who is forcing whom? Last time I checked, AT&T is suing our communities for the right to sell without rules around here. Nobody has a gun to AT&T's head on this.
TheGhost
Premium Member
join:2003-01-03
Lake Forest, IL

TheGhost

Premium Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

said by cbrigante2:

said by NewMariner:

Why should a PRIVATELY owned company be FORCED to sell to people? If they dont want to sell to someone then thats their prerogative isnt it?
Who is forcing whom? Last time I checked, AT&T is suing our communities for the right to sell without rules around here. Nobody has a gun to AT&T's head on this.
Yep - it seems that at&t wants to use city property to sell the services, without having to pay for it or have any restrictions on use.

To those who say let at&t do what they will, I don't think you would be singing the same tune if at&t decided to put a big 5x5x5 box in front of your house in the right of way. at&t does not want any city input on where they put the NEW equipment.
cwh
join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX

cwh

Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

said by TheGhost:

said by cbrigante2:

said by NewMariner:

Why should a PRIVATELY owned company be FORCED to sell to people? If they dont want to sell to someone then thats their prerogative isnt it?
Who is forcing whom? Last time I checked, AT&T is suing our communities for the right to sell without rules around here. Nobody has a gun to AT&T's head on this.
Yep - it seems that at&t wants to use city property to sell the services, without having to pay for it or have any restrictions on use.

To those who say let at&t do what they will, I don't think you would be singing the same tune if at&t decided to put a big 5x5x5 box in front of your house in the right of way. at&t does not want any city input on where they put the NEW equipment.
These boxes could just as easily go on private property, which would render this argument irrelivent. I am sure they will have no problem finding someong willing to rent them 25square feet.
TheGhost
Premium Member
join:2003-01-03
Lake Forest, IL

TheGhost

Premium Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

said by cwh:

These boxes could just as easily go on private property, which would render this argument irrelivent. I am sure they will have no problem finding someong willing to rent them 25square feet.
Agreed - but at&t hasn't been pursuing that route, they have been going after the additional ROW usage though.
cwh
join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX

cwh

Member

Re: When all Else Fails......follow the money.........

said by TheGhost:

said by cwh:

These boxes could just as easily go on private property, which would render this argument irrelivent. I am sure they will have no problem finding someong willing to rent them 25square feet.
Agreed - but at&t hasn't been pursuing that route, they have been going after the additional ROW usage though.
Have they?

Octopussy2
Premium Member
join:2003-03-30
Batavia, IL

Octopussy2 to NewMariner

Premium Member

to NewMariner
Apparently you don't agree with franchise fees in general, but they exist for all cable TV providers. While cities still maintain their ROWs, they should be able to charge for using them and having a say as to what goes into them.

AT&T charges others to use their network, right? I see no difference for the cities to negotiate over their ROW.