how-to block ads
|
|
Uniqs:
1849 |
Share Topic
 |
 |
|
|
 marigoldsGainfully employed, finallyPremium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
kudos:1 | reply to calvoiper
Re: Anti-AT&T crowd always wave same flag - redlining I can't think of any instance either where a city specifies where a mobile vendor must go, but almost any city has examples of telling mobile vendors where they cannot go. Converse cases to each other, but similar powers. Vendor and business permits may not be common practice. I just had the dumb luck of living in two states where it was  (in Iowa, you even have to have a state and local permit to let vehicles park on your lawn for a fee).
And now that I think about it, taxing mechanisms for city streets are use based, but not in a structure that would encompass ice cream drivers (except for the permits). It is very common to assess commercial properties for street improvements when the property is improved.
So where am I going with all of this? The public ROW cannot be treated like a public commons. It needs to be treated like a regulated public trust. Franchise fees, unfortunately, are a poorly constructed measure that may be overpriced or underpriced and not directly linked to actual utilization of the ROW. At the same time, unfettered and uncompensated access to the ROW is going to encourage overuse and abuse (the AT&T boxes being a prime example).
An excellent way to handle the issue that will never be utilized in the current deregulation environment would be to create a leasing property right. Designate how much total space can be leased in the ROW. Sell off the rights to lease that space (but only lease rights, as selling actual property rights to public trust land would have legal issues), putting in place rules that require use of lease rights. That prevents monopolizing of the lease rights and encourages minimal space use at the same time.
Best of all, providers now have an expected fixed cost to use when planning service extension.
--
ISCABBS - the oldest and largest BBS on the Internet
telnet://bbs.iscabbs.com
Professional Geographer
Geographic Information Science researcher | |
 calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA | Ah, yes, let me see. We must create a bureaucracy that we are currently getting along fine without, and that bureaucracy will have the power to control the use of the ROW. They will presumably be able to dictate where lines are laid, when upgrades are permissible, etc., etc. Will they also be able to dictate content? Like no porn? Like no disturbing images? Like no disturbing ideas? Like you can only broadcast news that makes city government look good?
Sheesh. More big government so people who can't accomplish anything in real life get to control those who have accomplished something.
calvoiper
--
VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | | |
|
marigoldsGainfully employed, finallyPremium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
kudos:1 | Well, I am saying that we should replace the current bureaucracy with market based regulation.
That is the whole point of making it a leased property right. By creating a property right, you would need zero regulation about "where lines are laid, when upgrades are permissible, etc. etc." nor would you need to "dictate content"
Since the ROW users would actually have physically possession of their right to ROW and would have a foundation to sue each other for abuse of the ROW, you could scrap much of the current bureaucratic system and cities would recover regulatory costs (in the form of royalties - think like off shelf oil rights) in accordance with the real value of ROW access (which in many cities is probably much much more than 5% of video revenue).
Ironically, I'm actually talking about true deregulation in that respect rather than the psuedoregulation pushed by state franchising which is actually a means of scrapping consumer protection and allowing large companies to capture public trust resources without proper compensation and to make the public absorb all externalities from this special interest capture.
--
ISCABBS - the oldest and largest BBS on the Internet
telnet://bbs.iscabbs.com
Professional Geographer
Geographic Information Science researcher | |
|
