South Carolina Erects New Barrier to Community Broadband > Where are the details?

-- the municipality can't subsidize their ISP from other funds or tax streams
*** AT&T is able to subsidize with other revenue streams. In fact, that said revenue they collect goes out of state. Community broadband revenue STAYS in the community along with the jobs it creates

>>> irrelevant. AT&T is a corporation that reports based on GAAP and they roll up their P&L corporate wide. They can't tax their users like a municipality can. That is why this is a leveling-the-playing-field thing. The whole point is the voters vote a bond or a tax for one thing, don't let the municipality grab it for something else. Comparing a taxed municipal service to a corporations' offerings is complete apples and oranges.

-- the municipality must bid out the proposal to see if a private firm can do it cheaper/better
*** So that said private company can string them a;long and when all is said and done tie it up in court until it costs too much for the locality to proceed.
>>>> can't fix stupid. If the contract sucks and lets the private company screw the municipality, well, they should have written the contract better and managed it better. That's what they are for.

-- the municipality must get voter approval for funding
*** do you vote when the electric company fixes your power when it goes out? Do you vote when the electric company expannds to new areas. Does AT&T require a vote to expand service, or do they deliver what they promise to do to get these bills through...NO they dont.
>>> what the hell are you even talking about. The subject is calling a vote for new bonds or new taxes. The power company doesn't have to issue a bond to fix my power.

Look at Chattanooga and you tell me if 10s of thousands of jobs, fastest internet in the country, Volkswagen, Amazon, high tech jobs, national recognition, quality of life...tell me it those are reasons. I am sure there are more. I am sick of you free market idiots that have no clue what a real free market is...clue...broadband in this country isnt.

>>> so I looked it up found this interesting report
»www.ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/···ight.pdf

looks to me like (a) Charlotte and the others in the report did a very nice job (b) I didn't find anything in the report saying that any of these muni fiber projects would have been disqualified by the law passed that we are talking about. it was voted on, it was not cross subsidized, and corporations had their shot .

the whole point is, quit whining about the fact that corporations exist and will stand up and fight, and GO DO YOUR MUNI FIBER FAIRLY AND UNDER THE RULES, and succeed like these towns did.

Under this law Chattanooga (not Charlotte) would not have been able to build their network.