wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·BroadVoice
| reply to KrK
Re: Shocking...
said by KrK  :Only because they are under nuclear attack from the Big Incumbents.... If they succeed in nuking Utopia from existence they will hold it up as the model nationwide that Muni broadband is a failure... Well, in this case I think its the taxpayers who are starting to push back. Remember, there were certain deployment goals that were not met and now they (Utopia) are asking for a lot more money. Thats the major issue with government deployments, when things go sour the citizens have to pony up more cash to fix it. Had this project been launched by a company, then you could bet the planning would have at least been better.
Dont get me wrong, I am all for as much competition as possible. There just comes a point when "I" no longer want to pay for the local government to flush my money down the toilet in order to get a fake competitive landscape. The good thing about private companies (as opposed to muni efforts) is that they are held accountable either by their shareholders or by their profit margins to get things done.
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Весна прибыла |
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Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO
| You would still be paying as a public citizen if a local incumbant was doing the same thing. The difference is you would have no say as the people that you voted in to serve you would be serving their gravy train business associates and handing them incentives left and right to make it happen.
The concept of Utopia is certainly the way to go: 1 network that is wholesaled out to those that want to service the people. Not only should this be done in communities, it should be done in states and it should be done nationwide. There is absolutely no reason we need a "utility" as such being built by everyone that wants to serve the people. |
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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 wifi4milez
It's struggling with several issues, but one of the biggest is the fact the subscriber rate is much lower then expected. It's not like people don't want broadband, what's happening is that the incumbents are offering heavy promo deals and pricing (free install, free equipment, low rates, no contracts, etc) prices that they don't offer in other markets.
They are doing their best to try and kill it. Of course, if it does die, those promo prices will vanish....
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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jester121
Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL | Comcast and the other incumbents really should allow their market share to be eroded and lose lots of money in that market, right?  |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | No. They should sign on the network. It's wholesale... but see that would be FAIR. They don't want FAIR, or competition. They want it ALL. A network that allows competition would mean they have to compete. They don't want that. |
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jester121
Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL | All your Layer 1 and 2 are belong to us.
- The Government |
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Yauch
join:2005-06-24
| reply to KrK
I don't have fiber or a muni network in my community and I can still get free installs and free equipment from Comcast and low rates and no contracts from at&t. Are they giving me these heavy promos just to kill a network 2000 miles away? Or is it just possible that the free market has worked out to my advantage in some small way? |
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marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
Premium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
| said by Yauch :I don't have fiber or a muni network in my community and I can still get free installs and free equipment from Comcast and low rates and no contracts from at&t. Are they giving me these heavy promos just to kill a network 2000 miles away? Or is it just possible that the free market has worked out to my advantage in some small way? You're getting a wireless router with 6 wireless cards, home wireless network setup, and 10/1 for $15 a month unbundled too?
I want to know what you said to get that deal.
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Geographic Information Science researcher |
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axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to KrK
I think the taxpayers have to decide if they are getting their money's worth. If the incumbents are lowering their prices for everyone, how much money is everyone saving? 50,000 people x $20 per month is $12 million dollars a year. Increase the number of people and savings is even bigger. |
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wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
| reply to wifi4milez
said by wifi4milez : fake competitive landscape. What? Utopia is more healthy for competition than their competitors. Who exactly is it that's providing infrastructure over which any ISP can offer service?
Which companies are quickly retreating from that form of provisioning and which never had it?
A project like Utopia is pure competition. Competition where it matters, in the service, not in the road. It's akin to the government building a road or an airport and taxis or package delivery services providing service using that infrastructure. It's only a problem to the Randians who have a problem with nearly anything the government does and the corporations who stand to lose their duopolies.
If you haven't noticed, private companies haven't been doing too well at citywide WiFi deployments lately, either.
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It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word.  |
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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 jester121
said by jester121 :All your Layer 1 and 2 are belong to us. All your Money Are Belong to Us.
--- Big Telco & CableCo |
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