My recollection is that Frontier has a particularly bad history in West Virginia of incompetence and fraud.
Just a random sample: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/frontier-wont-return-4-7m-in-broadband-funds-to-wv/article_6584f423-09e5-5226-bb24-3cab536544f9.html Frontier is incompetent everywhere, but they seem to view WV as a state full of ignorant bumpkins ripe for the picking. It isn’t surprising that WV politicians would object to Frontier getting more public money. From: AF <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Mike Hammett Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2020 7:23 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] SpaceX RDOF boondoggle? "Nobody would take the risk otherwise." Incorrect. "And you'd have to handle situations where two parties built the same area, or they were adjacent and they overlapped." If two parties built it, no one gets funded. ----- Mike Hammett <http://www.ics-il.com/> Intelligent Computing Solutions <https://www.facebook.com/ICSIL> <https://plus.google.com/+IntelligentComputingSolutionsDeKalb> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/intelligent-computing-solutions> <https://twitter.com/ICSIL> <http://www.midwest-ix.com/> Midwest Internet Exchange <https://www.facebook.com/mdwestix> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/midwest-internet-exchange> <https://twitter.com/mdwestix> <http://www.thebrotherswisp.com/> The Brothers WISP <https://www.facebook.com/thebrotherswisp> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSdfxQv7SpoRQYNyLwntZg> _____ From: "Adam Moffett" <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2020 3:26:40 PM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] SpaceX RDOF boondoggle? Interesting idea. It would have to be structured so the funding was legally obligated if the network was built to within some performance parameters. Nobody would take the risk otherwise. And you'd have to handle situations where two parties built the same area, or they were adjacent and they overlapped. On 12/16/2020 4:19 PM, Steve Jones wrote: im talking about the award, not the check. You shouldnt even be able to get on the radar without a completed region to ask for an award for On Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 3:00 PM Adam Moffett <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: That is how it usually is. I don't know what program is giving out cash up front, but please sign me up for that. Proving you built it starts with invoices for all the crap you bought and ends with physical audit. The terms are not the same in every program, but typically you get reimbursed based on invoices you paid. The physical audit comes later. I suppose if you wanted to take the money and skip town you could produce a lot of fake invoices from all the vendors, but you'd have to know that it's a temporary thing and have your permanent vacation to Brazil already planned. On 12/16/2020 2:22 PM, Steve Jones wrote: I wish funding would change to a retroactive award, ie, you build it, you prove it, you get reimbursed. Reimbursement award chart can be public per region. Awards have rate cap requirements to avoid predatory monopolies. You really only need to self fund your first build, subsequent awards fund subsequent builds if you choose that model. Keeps things fair and gives opportunity for small operators to step up their game rather than being over built with government money and poor quality/customer service. Funding should also be based on regional polling. We can send ballots to every address and census workers, we should be able to verify there is actual demand not being met before we dump cash into it On Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 1:09 PM Bill Prince <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Banana pants for sure. Do bananas burn? Maybe if you soak dried banana peels in gasoline; then your banana pants could catch fire. bp <part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com> On 12/16/2020 11:05 AM, Ken Hohhof wrote: It’s like all the arguing over how many locations can get gigabit Internet. That’s a first world problem. Rural areas would be like pigs in mud if they could get 100M or even 25M. I saw some expert quoted (and I think it was in a WISPA newsletter) that farms needed gigabit. No backup for that assertion, I am pretty sure he pulled it out of his ass. Some rural senator said we are arguing about 4G vs 5G and his farm had no G. It’s like the kids who can’t do their Zoom classes, and people want you to believe they need 25 or 100 or 1000 Mbps for that. No, they need a little over 1 Mbps for each kid. I’m not saying they should only get 3M or 5M service, but if you’re telling people that rural kids can’t do their video classes unless they get 100M or gigabit, that’s a load of crap. And the people who say that either have an agenda, or their pants are on fire. From: AF <mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Jason McKemie Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2020 12:01 PM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] SpaceX RDOF boondoggle? I'm a big fan of letting the market take care of it. If there is a demand, then a WISP will likely meet it. If not, either deal with it or move somewhere that has service. Maybe that is another argument entirely, but I think we're searching for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. On Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 11:34 AM Adam Moffett <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Is it better to fund Frontier FTTH and risk them being evil, incompetent Frontier or better to leave rural WV unserved? It's easy to sit back in our comfy chairs and say Frontier doesn't deserve that money, but then what do we do after not giving it to them? On 12/16/2020 12:24 PM, Jason McKemie wrote: It should probably be a requirement that you aren't under bankruptcy protection if you're going to be getting public money. Plus Frontier is just generally incompetent, hence the bankruptcy. On Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 10:58 AM Adam Moffett <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: I saw the senator's complaint. I can't speak to Frontier's competency, but Frontier threw their hat in the ring to voluntarily serve unprofitable areas with government assistance. I'm betting the senator's complaint is moot because nobody else wants that job. On 12/15/2020 12:50 PM, Ken Hohhof wrote: I forget who was complaining that SpaceX was getting RDOF money to serve areas like universities and airports, but FreePress is complaining about the same thing. Keep in mind this is FreePress, which likes criticizing Internet policy a lot. Also winners still have to submit their long forms. https://www.freepress.net/our-response/expert-analysis/insights-opinions/broadband-boondoggle-ajit-pais-886m-gift-elon-musk I also saw that a WV senator was objecting money to Frontier which she said was not competent to deliver gigabit service in her state. -- AF mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
-- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
