The Internet and broadband both are the result of many years of our
government investing in science/technology R&D, giving research and
implementation grants to university and private research labs while
providing huge tax breaks to the broadband providers. Those providers
promised to get their systems up and running within a designated time,
and in return, they got help from the government, as has been necessary
for huge projects like this, and they have profited well, just not on
their own.
High quality communications backbone and capability is essential for
economic advancement of businesses in this country. Economic and
scientific parity, or better yet, superiority are important for the
well-being of the American people, but most important, advanced
communications is the foundation of national security through economic
security.
If the libertarians among you believe that the government can't do a
good job at promoting science and communications, you have a very short
memory, or you slept through history and current events classes. We're
lucky that the people in government 50 years ago, and until the 80s when
science budgets were beginning to be attacked [thank goodness for Al
Gore's support of legislation to fund the Internet], understood that
technological superiority and innovation are not proprietary.
Supporting techology and scientific research benefits both businesses
and the people. It can't be done without public-private partnerships.
Public investment is good for all of us. "Megacorps" are only bearing
the difference in cost between their budgeted investment and the funding
from the government through tax breaks and grants.
The US has fallen behind by a lot. Land area and population aren't
relevant. Determination, investment and a serious plan for economic
advancement are.
Betty
> The "megacorp" is bearing the cost. We expect ROI. That is basic
> capitalism. We know the government isn't going to help us do this.
>
> We are doing this on our own. That is how America is supposed
> to work.
Sounds like a viable business plan to me. I hope Verizon is successful and
wildly reaps the benefits of their very substantial investment.
Unfortunately, for too many of our friends, qualities such as risk and
reward, investment and a return on it, are a distant second to "gimmee,
gimmee, gimmee," as if high-speed internet access is a national birthright.
Most of the municipal wi-fi systems around the country, that were supposed
to be oh-so-cheap to implement and have people fighting to get in line to
get it, are languishing from low-ball cost projections, over-optimistic
revenue estimates, low enrollment, mismanagement, idiotic partnerships, poor
engineering and plain old city guvmint corruption. By any reasonable
standard, these projects are abject failures.
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