Well OK, Debbie Downer, you might have a point.
And probably FCC politics are not so much Republican vs Democrat, but
rather which lobbyists bring the best cupcakes.
https://www.attpublicpolicy.com/fcc/cupcakegate/
*From:*[email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Mark Radabaugh
*Sent:* Sunday, February 26, 2017 1:55 PM
*To:* Cambium Networks User Group <[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: [Cambium-users] Huffington Post Article on Rural
Connectivity
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]
<mailto:[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]>
[mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Jason McKemie
*Sent:* Sunday, February 26, 2017 12:55 PM
*To:* Cambium Networks User Group <[email protected]
<mailto:[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]
<mailto:[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]
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[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
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-RickG
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