Octopussy2
Premium
join:2003-03-30
Batavia, IL
| reply to pnh102
Re: "BIG" telecoms
I think you have to look at the bigger picture here and not just Philly - albeit a large city (and that is why the national spotlight has suddenly been turned on and the WSJ has done a story). The question really is, should the telcos be able to dictate what local governments can and cannot do with their infrastructure? AND, what can those cities provide for their residents across that infrastructure? Why should private industry get to dictate that to a city? Or to a rural community? No wonder we are behind! What are we, #13th in the world now because the telcos have held back at rolling out fiber until they could keep all the money for themselves?
Some of these communities in our country today have to have the choice to provide these services for their communities because no one else is coming. They just aren't deemed profitable enough for the telcos.
I think it is very dangerous to give the telcos "the only keys to the car" here. They will drive the car right into the river.
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It's muni-licious! »www.tricitybroadband.com |
calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| It is indeed a much bigger picture. This is one of those points where two public policies of wide acceptance collide. Those policies are:
1. States are our basic level of government. The federal government gets its power from the Constitution, which was adopted by the states. Within a state, the state government controls the allocation of government power between and among all "lesser" governmental units (cities, counties, townships, special purpose districts, boards, commissions, etc.)
2. Telecom competition is wide open to all comers, based on federal policies.
Normally, we wouldn't think twice about one state saying that its cities could not, or could (or even were required to) enter some line of business. (Garbage collection comes to mind--some places it's a municipal task, some places there is a regulated monopoly, and some places it's competitive.)
Because broadband access (and it's particular variant, Wi-Fi) is both new and unevenly available, there are a number of uncommon forces coming to bear on this particular question.
For me, the question is decided based on the duplicity and arbitrariness demonstrated by the private providers--but others may well base their thoughts on other factors.
A stimulating debate, to be sure--and one we should all be very glad is seeing the light of day. Of course, those cockroaches who prefer to work in the dark probably don't appreciate the publicity, however.:D
calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! |
