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Free Wi-Fi Program in Los Angeles Fails to Provide Free Wi-Fi (latimes.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the not-so-hot-spot dept.

The Los Angeles Time found no internet connectivity in 24 public locations, despite a three-year, $500,000 grant to provide them with free Wi-Fi service. Investigations both last year and again in March found that none of the 18+ locations checked were able to successfully connect to the internet, prompting a PUC investigation that confirmed only two of the hotspots were working. The grant was part of a $315 million state-wide program using surcharges on utility bills to promote high-quality communication services, though in Los Angeles most of the money for "underserved" areas was being directed to outreach and education. The Wi-Fi company's executive director said maintaining their networks had proved to be difficult, though one economist argued it would've been more productive to give net-access subsidies directly to the poor, a program the FCC recently voted to expand.

6 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. "free" never fails to disapoint by MrLogic17 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is commonly the result of the government promising something free.
    The taxes get collected, no doubt, but the promised freebie never quite pans out.

    Keep that in mind when voting.

    1. Re:"free" never fails to disapoint by Daemonik · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Odd, you point out the government side of the problem.. but not the corporate side that takes the money, pockets it and ignores the reason they were given the money in the first place.

      So keep in mind when voting, we need more regulation and oversight of corporations that take government money folks.

    2. Re:"free" never fails to disapoint by Daemonik · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You people, you do everything you can to deflect from the corporate greed that creates these situations.

      Why did this service need to be provided by the government? Because corporations don't want to serve the public good, they only want to make as much profit as possible. They kill competition, don't deliver half what their marketing material promises, outright lie, dodge their customers and do whatever they can to force their beleaguered customers into arbitration or other avenues to limit their accountability when they're inevitably held accountable.

      The reason those regulations are so insanely complicated? Decades of corporate sharks chipping away at the laws to create new and ever more inventive ways to steal from the public.

      The solution is to force corporations to adhere to some damn ethics. Hold CEO's responsible and if corporations are people? Then how about we 'execute' a couple, just to remind the rest that they're not above the law.

  2. Re:Can you pay for my Internet Access too FCC, ple by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    [...] so everyone can have free phones, food, rent, medical care, iPads and internet access [...]

    Where I can sign up for this?

    *crickets*

    That's what I thought.

  3. Re:Can you pay for my Internet Access too FCC, ple by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can start here [obamaphone.com]...

    The same program that President Ronald Reagan started to help people afford a phone line?

    The FCC established the Lifeline program in 1985 to ensure that qualifying low-income consumers could afford phone service and the opportunities and security it provides. Congress supported and strengthened Lifeline in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, requiring that affordable service and advanced communications be available to low-income consumers across the country. In March of 2016, the FCC modernized Lifeline for advanced services by beginning a transition toward support of broadband service. Learn more about Lifeline modernization from this press release.

    https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/lifeline-support-affordable-communications

    Capitalists made the cell phones (and WiFi) possible, Socialists are making it a civil right.

    You need to stop watching Fox News on TV, step outside and get some fresh air. Real socialists don't exist in the United States.

  4. Re:Can you pay for my Internet Access too FCC, ple by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Crying about 'muh right wing echo chamber' doesn't disprove that obamaphones are a thing, which is what his post was about.

    The federal program got started by Ronald Reagan and updated several times by Congress since then. Why don't we call them Reagan phones instead? Will they be called Hillary phones next year?

    Why don't we admit that "Obamaphones" is a slur against a federal program that some people find useful because other people don't like the current president?