We are in an industry that already has some regulatory oversight and
will continue to be regulated and/or controlled in some fashion or
another by the government. There is no denying it. It would be like
sticking your head in the sand to not try to actively participate in the
process being put into place for building universal access to broadband
across the U.S.. It is far better for us to have a say in how these
things are done than to simply ignore them or try to believe they will
not happen. It is ok to say you do not like it. In a perfect world we
would need no government at all for anything. The world is not perfect
and we will be regulated. It is up to us to make sure that regulation is
done responsibly and in our best interests if at all possible. We can
choose to be part of the process or become processed (like mechanically
separated meat products). I vote we become part of the process.
Scriv
Mark Koskenmaki wrote:
- Original Message -
From: "Marlon K. Schafer (509) 982-2181" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "WISPA General List"
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 7:37 AM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] USF tax changes?
I had a call the other day from someone at the Congressional Budget
Office.
It *looks* like there is a move afoot to expand USF to broadband.
I believe this would only be a good thing for the market.
Out here the telco gets $109 per month per phone line. And they require a
phone line for DSL service.
So $15 per phone line.
$30 per dsl.
$109 per line in usf funds.
Nearly $160 per month per sub. And I get $35. Oh joy!
Now if I could get $109 too! At nearly 300 subs today Man could I
put
in a nice network! And afford to go where others aren't going yet.
And the value of a wisp would REALLY shoot through the roof.
But Marlon... If you "raise" us to "thier" level, you're going to see your
services taxed at state and federal level, you're going to SWAMPED with
paperwork, and you won't be able to do sqat without 25 forms in triplicate.
And that includes, going to the bathroom.
You're going to end up subjecting us to the same regulatory climate that
"they" live in. And that will be the end of the WISP business, where only
the monopoly-type telcos with the huge capitalization and lotsa lawyers on
staff will be able to do "wireless".
Would I like to get 150 / mo per sub, and have to bill only 41 bucks to do
it? Darn right. Heck, if I got 109 / mo for each sub, I'd bill $1/ mo
and sign people like there was no tomorrow...
Given the choice of being regulated and getting the money and not being
regulated and doing without it...
I choose without.
I don't think the alternative is viable.
I'm not a big fan of government meddling but one of two things has to
happen
here. Either they drop usf (most rural telcos would fold so this is
unlikely) or expand it to include us and cable and sat. Like it or not,
government funding was used for electrification, phones, roads etc. If
the
competition is going to get subsidized, we should to.
I say drop it, and re-write the laws governing VOIP and POTS service, so
that "anyone" can do it, just like "anyone" can be a WISP. It's going to
mean that "gauranteed" phone service would be a thing of the past... And I
don't see any reason it should be "gauranteed". Just like it shouldn't be
"gauranteed" your cell will work or your satellite dish will work, or your
pager will work, or there's a theater in town. For that matter, anyone
that remote can now get satellite phones...
Heck, it isn't even guaranteed there'll be a decent place to eat lunch in
town... ( especially not Odessa, hehehehe ).
North East Oregon Fastnet, LLC 509-593-4061
personal correspondence to: mark at neofast dot net
sales inquiries to: purchasing at neofast dot net
Fast Internet, NO WIRES!
-
WISPA needs to support this move. In a big way.
Marlon
(509) 982-2181 Equipment sales
(408) 907-6910 (Vonage)Consulting services
42846865 (icq)And I run my own wisp!
64.146.146.12 (net meeting)
www.odessaoffice.com/wireless
www.odessaoffice.com/marlon/cam
- Original Message -
From: "Blair Davis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List"
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 6:08 PM
Subject: [WISPA] USF tax changes?
Does WISPA have a stand on this?
http://techrepublic.com.com/2100-1035-5959140.html?tag=nl.e550
As one who has built my network without any public money, I have no
interest in collecting special taxes. I have more than enough paperwork
now...
I also don't want my competitors to get government money to build their
networks. But locally, I have found out that they are getting
government
grants to expand into my area. Having seen their install rates, monthly
fees a
