Broadband Black HolesThe haves, and the have-nots ( old news - 06:54PM Wednesday Dec 14 2005) tags: coverage When we mentioned this morning how saturated Virginia was with broadband options, users were quick to point out we should have specified Northern Virginia, home to some of the wealthiest counties in the country. "I, live in Virginia and there is absolutely no broadband (except satellite) in my area which is within 100 miles of Washington, DC," complains a user. "I live in Sterling, Virginia, directly across the street from Dullas town mall - I have no DSL - I have no wireless ISP - I have no BPL", complains another. NPR reports on nearby West Virginia where people also only have access to dial-up and satellite, but are doing something about it. "When you have a community effort like this, the members of the community feel a sense of ownership. We may operate [the network], but it's held in the trust of citizens of the community. It's for the public benefit and for the public good," says Mike Chapman, who is bringing wireless service to West Virginia broadband have-nots.
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 PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR | It has less to do with weathy counties ... than it does with counties near D.C. 'want to make sure the government workers have the impression that a competitive BB market is ubiquitous, so that the regulators leave the BB SP's alone. | |
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Maarvin
Premium
join:2005-04-11
Denver, CO | Re: It has less to do with weathy counties ... What these folks should do is form a community corporation and bring in the necessary utilities such as broadband on cable and DSL. | |
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marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
Premium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
| Re: It has less to do with weathy counties ... said by Maarvin  :What these folks should do is form a community corporation and bring in the necessary utilities such as broadband on cable and DSL. You have to have the credit to get the bonds to build the infrastructure.
And most states, the city government cannot back those bonds, so those bonds can only be backed by an existing municipal utility (water or electric). This is not football in Green Bay, it will be pretty tricky to just make a company from scratch with enough investment to issue more than junk bonds.
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| | | PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR
| said by Maarvin :What these folks should do is form a community corporation and bring in the necessary utilities such as broadband on cable and DSL. If they try, Verizon will fight them to the death to block it, even after stating that they have no plans to provide BB services to these communities themselves. | |
| | Bio Lizard
join:2004-04-15
Norfolk, VA
| Not all of Virginia, but not just north VA either On the other hand, it's not just Northern Virginia too. Here in the Hampton Roads area (SE Virginia), we also have 15/2 cable from Cox and FIOS being installed by Verizon. I wish the fiber is being installed nearly as fast as up there, but it's still being installed. | |
| | dekerfman
join:2004-10-07
Weirton, WV | Re: Not all of Virginia, but not just north VA either I live in West Virginia and I have cable internet. There is alot of rural area in the state and small towns. I doubt the state will ever be saturated with broadband. | |
| | Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ
| Re: Not all of Virginia, but not just north VA eit not to mention the Bells and cable cos would probally drag any community efforts into court. while they never ever plan to run BB to a town of 2000, they cant have that town running fiber in fear of loosing their 26.4kbs dialup customer base.
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bokamba
Chengdu Rocks
Premium
join:2002-04-05
Falls Church, VA | Sterling's pretty close in, actually Sterling is near AOL's headquarters.
But it's true, not all of Virginia has good broadband penetration. Lots of places have cable, though. | |
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Rojo78
join:2005-09-21
Hollywood, FL
| I Live in the middle of a "no broadband" Island I live in South Florida and am 10K feet from my CO. The houses across the street have DSL from Bellsouth available, but my apt complex doesn't have.
Also the Apt complex has signed a contract with a crappy, crappy cable company which does not provide any true Broadband.
Wisps in my area require the antenna to be put on the roof, which is also out the question.
So me and the 700 or so apartments here have no broadband. | |
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griminal
Finally.
join:2001-06-25
Bangor, MI
| Re: I Live in the middle of a "no broadband" Islan If you have a direct line of sight with a house/apartment that can get DSL, wireless signals do travel through windows.  Knock on a few doors... say "I'll pay for your Internet access if you allow me to shoot it wirelessly to my place."
Do a Hijack. I did and I'm loving every minute of it. ...as long as it's not against the user agreement for the DSL provider.
Have a meeting with some of the other tenants and set up a wireless mesh network.
Some times you gotta stand up and cut the red tape out of your way.
»www.grimsplace.com | |
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Dominokat
"Hi"
Premium
join:2002-08-06
Boothbay, ME
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
2 edits | Money to be made. Its all about money. "Where is the money at? Okay, that is where we will install our FIOS." Or in the case of the FIOS, cable companies are coming out with very fast tiers also, but only where FIOS is competing.
I really doubt that FIOS or the cable equivalent will come into the smaller towns or poorer towns.
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"There is no element of genius without some form of madness." | |
| hedyd4u
Premium
join:2003-12-16
Schenectady, NY
| You choose where to live If you choose to live where there is no broadband then stop complaining. If you live with your parents then stop complaining. I bought a home where I knew I could get DSL and cable and now that FIOS is out maybe I will move because there are towns near me that have or will have but my home is not so likely anytime soon. | |
| | evoxfan
Waiting On Dsl Or Cable
join:2004-02-12
Daleville, AL
| Re: You choose where to live Planning where you live around where broadband is or isn't available is crazy and not realistic. If you're planning on moving anyway, yes you could take that into consideration. Then, if you still don't have broadband you shouldn't complain. You knew up front you wouldn't have it there. I believe steps should be put into place to spread availability before offering all these new tiers of service. You will wind up with one person on fiber and the next left on dial up. I don't mind paying extra either because I understand it cost money to deploy.
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| systems2000
What? You Say It's Fixed. Hah
join:2001-11-29
Cyberspace
| NPR Report I find it interesting how the FCC coverage map gives a misleading impression, by having "No Coverage" (white) areas on their map when they have satellite listed as a provider of "High-Speed services."
Granted there may not be anyone taking service within those ZIP coded areas, It's still available. The map should be a little more accurate by detailing service better. Maybe by cost of service instead of by starting off at 1-3 providers.
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ
·Optimum Online
| Better Dead than Red This guy may as well go live in China:
"When you have a community effort like this, the members of the community feel a sense of ownership. We may operate [the network], but it's held in the trust of citizens of the community. It's for the public benefit and for the public good," says Mike Chapman, who is bringing wireless service to West Virginia broadband have-nots.
Someone quickly better sue them, threaten to pull jobs or drop in a competing service immediately. This is where the commies start, with a little muni-wireless service. Next up: universal healthcare. And then... well, get your Mao caps out.
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