Colorado May Allow Cities To Provide Wifi

miguelitof writes "According to the TheDenverChannel.com, Colorado cities may soon be able to provide wireless internet service to their citizens. The state Senate will vote today (April 5th) on Colorado Senate Bill 152, which would allow cities to provide wireless internet access. The only proviso would be that cities would have to get approval from voters to use tax dollars. The cost to provide internet access to a 16 square mile area is about $600k. A city could charge as little as $16 a month and cover expenses."

Comments

Re:The U.S. Postal Service is a good example...

[An Onerous Coward]

How can you say that the United States Post Office is a government monopoly?

I'm inclined to agree that there's little reason to leave the Post Office in the hands of government. On the other hand, I'm skeptical of the claim that privatizing would immediately lead to increased efficiency. More likely, it would simply replace a government monopoly with a private oligopoly.

Only two plans make sense to me: either the USPS is sold in its entirety to a single private organization, or it's divvied up among the current would-be competitors (FedEx and UPS). In the former case, you have three players with sufficient infrastructure to deliver the service they provide; in the latter, you have two. It's just too expensive for new competitors to enter the market.

"That's one thing you really don't ever have to worry about the private sector allowing."

You were being sarcastic there, right?

"There is nothing that pissess off government bureaucrats than the idea that the citizenry can go elsewhere and completely ignore them."

How about the ramblings of right-wingers who seem to think all public services are theft, and that "the market" can do no wrong?