Slashdot Mirror
Municipal Broadband Projects Spread Across U.S.
Mediacitizen writes "Media rights group Free Press has just unveiled an online broadband map showing the vast extent to which publicly supported 'Community Internet' projects have overtaken towns across the country. Hundreds of communities now have municipal broadband systems on the drawing board, despite aggressive lobbying efforts by big telephone and cable companies to derail these projects. The national map shows Community Internet is spreading like a prairie fire."
I'm tired reading of another solution for the poor urban that can afford a laptop and wireless. How about us sad 48K dialup bastards in the dark zone of rural internet.
F/OSS software is the only truly free market of which I am aware, and the methodology of building and sharing one's own has spread into other arena well--beauty!
Markets work on info, and the telcos/cable unreasonable rates have been "taxing" small business and consultants (such as myself) at highly excessive rates.
These communities, one or another "get it"--their economies will enefit in sooooo many ways from this (relatively) minor investments.
I love it.
That's nice and all, but for most states it is at most 4 or 5 municipalities. How many thousands are in the US total? Plus, what is the impact on local taxes of providing "free" broadband. Personally, I'd rather have some free market competition to drive prices down.
"As you say - certain behaviors minimize the HIV risk and writing Slashdot tripe on Friday night is by far the most secu
Now this is boring, but I once read an interesting article regarding the issue of communism and open source (Is open source communist?)
I can see similar questions being raised about the "Community Internet" as well, and it makes sense why such things don't last too long in USA. The entire discussion of communism in Community Projects seems focussed around proving how evil they might be simply on the grounds of being remotely communist or hinting to be so. "Its communist so don't do it" is one of the many messages delivered in many forms.
Basically, if an ISP can make good money off providing broadband service, why will it let a community body run such projects for free or cheap? The student loan system in USA is a vaguely related, yet relevant example. Why do we have 500+ billion for war but not for education or medicare? And free Internet?
Well, because when the Islamic Extremists cut off your head becuase you shaved your beard or didn't pray today you won't need an education, health care or 'free internet'? Do you really think thugs will go away if you ignore them? Nothing is free.
I'm sad my city voted down Utopia. Qwest sent every one of their lobbyists out to stop this plan of FTTH for every home and business in the city. They argued it would fail and cost the cities money. But if it failed, then the fiber plan would go out to the highest bidder. Obviously, Qwest could have afforded it had they known it would fail....but they knew it wouldn't fail. So they had to stop it.
Luckily other cities voted for it. Already some are offering cheap plans for 15MB down and up, with businesses getting 30 MB down and up.
. . . is hereby proven to not always be a bad thing. Historic biases not withstanding.
"Hundreds of communities now have municipal broadband systems on the drawing board, despite aggressive lobbying efforts by big telephone and cable companies to derail these projects."
Well that's all well and good, but I'll let you in on a secret. The internet is composed of linked smaller networks. Municipal broadband to be truely useful, needs to be linked to other networks. Guess who owns those links? That's right, telephone and cable. It's one thing to be insular and say "I don't need you". It's another to realize that you are just spiting your face.
"The national map shows Community Internet is spreading like a prairie fire.""
Ms O'Leary's cow will be glad to hear that.
that this causes existing providers to lower their rates.
The internet is to the modern age what books were to those who came before. In the past, you could be intelligent and educated if your family could afford a fairly large, private library, stocked with the expected classics. Or if you had access to one somehow, usually through a university.
The advent of public libraries allowed common people access to the educational tools and knowledge base once held only by the social elite. This lies at the heart of the American Dream - people who labor for little or nothing can raise children who, through public education and public libraries, know a more prosperous life as their inborn potential allows. The social and financial potential of their parents no longer truly mattered.
Today, almost anything you could want to learn exists on the internet, from home repairs to getting a foundation in some of the most advanced scientific research mankind does. Not having this access leaves you at a serious disadvantage to those who do have it. A modern city of any signifigance does not exist without a public library at its center somewhere, and, if society acts with the same wisdom as before, ways will be found to bring the internet readily to the masses. Civic access to the internet is, in this context, the only truly logical way to go.
Besides, Orson Scott Card predicted civic net access in Ender's Game. You wanna argue against the guy?
they're owned by the communities, local ones. not by the government.
and since commercial isp's can't provide good service at a reasonable price, then they can fuck off.
50 bucks a month for lousy 3 mb/s down? if we had competition, you know, back in the olden days before government was invented, we could get the same service for 10 bucks a month.
sounds like you're not very interested in competition... even if it must come from sources you don't like. i'd rather satan open an isp and let people get cheap fast access than to continue with govt sanctioned bribe-induced monopolies.
prices and service is absolutely atrocious. something definitely needs to be done. no more fucking monopolies for the rich baby bells and cable companies.
Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source
I cannot understand why people think this is a good policy. It's welfare for techies.
;-)
Well, as one of those techies, all I can say is "Sounds good to me!" If hiring people to provide a wanted service is "welfare", I'll take the label along with the job. I've been insulted in worse ways by the neocon crowd.
Anyway, if you're not a techie (aka "nerd"), WTF are you doing here? Didn't you read the line at the top of the main page? Do we have a non-nerd spy in our midst?
Leaving internet access to the commercial guys makes just about as much sense as leaving the road system to them. They've had over a decade to convince us, and what they've done is supply service only to the cities. As with roads, electricity, and telephone service a century ago, they can't be bothered with the low-density areas. And now they have the gall to fight "community" internet politically. They won't supply service, and they want to make it illegal for us to supply our own service.
If they can't and won't do the job, the hell with them. Give the job to the people who are willing to do it. (Hey, that's us techies. And a lot of our hick rural buddies out in the sticks.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.