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Time Warner Cable Won't Compete, Seeks Legislation
narramissic writes "The good people of Wilson, NC pay $99/month for 10/10 Mbps internet service, 81 TV channels and telephone service. How'd they manage that, you ask? Well, the city-owned and operated cable service called Greenlight came into being when the City of Wilson approached TWC and local DSL provider Embarq and requested faster service for the area. 'TWC refused the request. And so Greenlight was born,' says blogger Peter Smith. 'Now Time Warner Cable and Embarq are upset that they've got competition, and rather than try to go head to head with Greenlight on price and service, they've instead been lobbying the state government of NC to pass laws to put Greenlight out of business. Apparently they're having some success, as the NC State Senate has proposed bills that would do TWC's bidding.'"
Privatization is the only way to get good cheap services, and nothing the government provides or does is any good.
The musings of just another geek and his junk.
If I'm not satisfied with the performance of an employee, I send him packing and hire someone who can do his job.
The problem is that there are usually only two employees available for this job, and if you fire the one who isn't doing his job, chances are the other one is a lot worse.
I hate having to choose between someone who sells my freedoms to corporations and a person who is a religious nut job who makes the Taliban look like atheists.
*sigh*
If you want reform in the US, you have to outlaw a two party political system (and lobbying) and create a parliment that has proportional representation to allow 3rd parties to actually hold a large portion of the seats in government.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
Interesting. There is only 1 entity that can put you in jail for not paying a bill. This same entity is also the only one that doesn't have to follow any of the FDCPA laws when it comes to collecting debts. Heck, they will go after adults who had parents incur debts in their name while they were kids.
The government can and will screw you worse than any private company EVER can achieve.
Presumably, the AC who posted this has sex with chickens. He just hides that fact, it's worked for centuries. Now the question is, if we replace the chickens with ducks, as his neighbor, do I still pay taxes to subsidize his bird rodgering?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I RTFA and that is *NOT* what they did. They went to the incumbent providers and asked THEM to provide faster service. They did NOT put together a general RFP open to any other companies. They needed to go out and say "We want X and are willing to pay for it. Is there ANYONE out there willing to provide this and at what cost?"
As far as the "providing it for less" part, I'd be interested in auditing the books on that. While they may be DIRECTLY billing customers less than TWC and Embarq, I wonder if they are subsidizing the cost with general taxation revenue. Also, did the use general taxation revenue to build the infrastructure? And, are they looking to recoup those costs via the service provided or just ignore it as an off-book expense?
All of those are what other, non-government providers, have to do. None of them are free, but a government can bury the costs so the general public THINKS they're getting something for nothing. TANSTAAFL.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
There were multiple articles. I didn't dig thru all of them.
Infrastructure costs were paid for with bonds. Are those bonds paid for by service fees alone? Or will existing taxes go towards paying off the bonds? The FAQ only says that taxes won't RISE, not that current levels of taxation aren't being used to pay for the system.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.