I couldn't agree more. Given that Tri-Met is establishing new rights-of-way (or at least making use of old ones), it seems like the perfect time to bring up the idea of the city (or a tri-county consortium) installing fiber. The dirt's already dug and the permits are already granted, making the whole thing cheaper.
I wonder what a way to go about broaching this idea would be? - Conor On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 3:20 PM, Michael Weinberg <[email protected]>wrote: > > It appears that Esme Vos over at muniwireless agrees with Russell and > I (and many other prescient Portlanders) when it comes to fiber > infrastructure. Esme writes: > > "Not all the things governments do are harmful and not all the thing > private companies do are helpful. What I’d like to see the government > do is to help pay for the creation of fiber infrastructure and to have > that infrastructure owned not by one monopoly company but either by a > consortium (of which the local government is a partner) or by the > local government itself. > > "Then, I’d like to see the government lease out that fiber > infrastructure at very low rates to ISPs like you, as backhaul, so you > can compete with large firms like AT&T and Comcast. This type of > government intervention helps [small WISPs] compete with the big > guys." > > (http://www.muniwireless.com/2009/02/26/mcdonalds-customers-free-wifi/) > > While her comment specifically addresses the potential that a public > fiber infrastructure could provide to WISPs, that's really just one > example of the enormous benefit that building such an infrastructure > would provide. > > A community fiber infrastructure, operated as a wholesale, common > carrier, would provide businesses and residences with the opportunity > to purchase next-generation bandwidth from the ISP of their choice, > added competition in the phone and television markets and the > infrastructure to drive new forms of (happy, legal, capitalist, > revenue generating) content delivery. It makes good economic > development sense as well as good consumer benefit sense and the > construction would result in many high-paying, skilled jobs. > > This is a very simple argument in favor of fiber, but there is a lot > more to say about it and for it. If you'd like to be part of the > discussion, chime in here, or hit Russell and I up directly to get > involved. > > Fiber for the Future! > > -- > Michael Weinberg > President > Personal Telco Project, Inc. > A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ The Personal Telco Project - http://www.personaltelco.net/ Donate to PTP: http://www.personaltelco.net/donate Archives: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.network.wireless.portland.general/ Etiquette: http://www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/MailingListEtiquette List information: http://lists.personaltelco.net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
