I'm not convinced that we should not be worried about the next 4 years. Early signs from the chairman are somewhat scary. Gigabit Empowerment, rural parity with urban consumers, broadband everywhere have all been mentioned. The recent vote on weighting for CAF-II reverse auction voted to weight 100Mb/Gigabit far higher than 25/3. Not at all a good sign.
Our republican chairman is sounding a whole lot like a big spending, big telco democrat ready to throw money at broadband. Mark Radabaugh Amplex 22690 Pemberville Rd Luckey, OH 43447 419-261-5996 > On Feb 26, 2017, at 2:33 PM, Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > > I can see an argument to be made that basic Internet connectivity is > essentially mandated for some portion of the population by schools, > government, employers, etc. > > I have customers whose kids can’t do their schoolwork without Internet. Last > week Ameren’s new smartmeters knocked a 900 MHz customer offline and her > daughter had to do a Skype interview as part of college application, ended up > burning through their cellular data plan but got it to work. Government > wants to make it difficult to apply for things like Social Security, > Medicare, or health insurance by phone or in person, they want you to do it > online. I think that’s something they should be required to review, are they > excluding low income people or seniors or people in rural areas by mandating > interaction via Internet. Same with employers, have you tried to find or > apply for a job lately without an Internet connection? > > Internet is replacing phones as a required method of communication. But also > let’s be honest, most of these things can be (and are) done on smartphones. > Although editing a resume or filling out a government form may be a lot > easier on an actual computer. > > The word “broadband” is problematic in this context. Government regulators, > tech media, telecom companies, etc. want a first-world definition of what > kind of Internet is a “basic human need”. Flying coach isn’t good enough, > everyone needs access to first class. Driving a used Toyota may be totally > adequate to get you to work and the store and take the kids to school, but if > some people have Teslas and Ferraris, then everyone must have them. > > It’s amazing how fast 25M/4M went from an aspirational and futuristic > definition of “advanced broadband” to the minimum acceptable level, soon to > be replaced with 100M or gigabit. And yes, 25M is an appropriate definition > of “broadband” if the objective is to cancel your satellite or cable TV and > watch HD video on 3-4 screens simultaneously, as well as download 50 GB games > to your Xbox in minutes not hours or days. But 4M/1M will suffice for all > those other basic non-entertainment human needs. > > The word “broadband” has no real meaning for most people. Maybe we need 2 or > 3 terms along the lines of what the airline industry has – coach, business, > first class. Maybe a case can be made that everyone should have access to > affordable “basic Internet” that would let you do all those work, school and > government things. The next level up would let you do those plus watch a > Netflix movie. For even more money, you can watch multiple video streams in > HD or 4K resolution. But that’s about entertainment, convenience, and saving > money by cancelling your $150/month satellite or cable TV subscription. It’s > not about basic human needs. > > At some point in the future, there may be a turning point, if they manage to > make all forms of broadcast TV (OTA, cable, satellite) go away and now > everything is on-demand and OTT. I don’t mind telling the little old lady on > Social Security renting a dilapidated house in the country that she doesn’t > need Netflix, because she can use an OTA antenna, or get the cheapest package > from DISH or DirecTV. But if all those options go away, as the government > auctions off all the TV spectrum, and DISH and DirecTV switch models to OTT > streaming, can you tell retired people on fixed incomes that they can’t even > watch network TV anymore unless they have “broadband”? But that’s a future > problem, we’re not there yet. And if the government is really intent on > making everything IP based, maybe they do need to structure the pricing so > everyone can still get phone service and watch TV and listen to the radio. I > worried about that with Wheeler at the head of the FCC. I don’t think we > have to worry about it for at least 4 years now. > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jason McKemie > Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 12:55 PM > To: Cambium Networks User Group <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Cambium-users] Huffington Post Article on Rural Connectivity > > You can argue a lot for broadband connectivity, but it is absolutely NOT a > basic human need. > > On Friday, February 24, 2017, RickG <[email protected]> wrote: > “It is no exaggeration that broadband connectivity is now a basic human > need,” says Atul Bhatnagar, Cambium Networks President and CEO. = code speak > for more gov money (aka your tax dollars)... > > On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 11:31 AM, Ray Savich via Cambium-users > <[email protected]> wrote: > Cyber Broadcast and Cambium Networks connect a town and bridges the digital > divide. This article is published in the Huffington Post. > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-a-small-town-in-illinois-is-bridging-the-digital_us_58b048f3e4b0658fc20f9416 > > > _______________________________________________ > Cambium-users mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/cambium-users > > > > > -- > -RickG > _______________________________________________ > Cambium-users mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/cambium-users
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