The fact is, the only things we're doing wrong, is allowing too much subsidy, too many barriers to entry into the business, and too much tax money to be gobbled up.
In all of these countries with so-called "great" broadband, how much is ACTUALLY spent by the consumers and taxpayers? Nobody knows. I will guarantee you it is WELL MORE than anyone pays here. No, not the price of subsidized services, the total spending divided by users and taxpayers. What is the actual "return" on broadband? I can tell you honestly, that with the exception of a small handful of my customers, the only "return" is time saved, with no monetary returns. For a few, it does have financial implications, and they do earn or save money. I'd say it was under 10%. Now, that's RESIDENTIAL customers. Business customers have a far different viewpoint... And they often pay well more than residential service prices to get SLA's, etc. Subsidizing the residential users with taxpayers is both economically wrong, and just plain common sense wrong. But as far as the article goes.. We need MORE "free market" and less interference. Broadband would spread faster, not slower. And be more, not less, competitive. But we have to recognize some things... There are historically created monopolies, and there are current monopolies, and these monopolies exist due to force of law. If there's anything that's held up broadband, it's these monopolies. Local and state laws often create monopolies by placing huge impediments to new startups, or wireless deployments, and often absolutely and totally forbid WIRED competition for phone and cable operators by offering exclusive franchises. The number of competitive wired phone operators is nil, for all practical purposes, for a lot of reasons. Yet, we have no end in sight of the wireless phone guys competing for your dollar. In rural America, far too much land is governmentally owned, and is the single largest obstacle to wireless deployments. Eastern Oregon, for instance is hugely Federal, some state, and tiny spots of private land. Trying to use federal or state land is just simply not feasible, especially if you're provider #2 for a town of 2000 people and you're trying to be cost competitive. And Congress can't seem to figure out that handing out grants to people who are experts at milking the sow in DC isn't cost effective or in any other way effective. Those who can, do, those who can't, get grants or loans. Not universally, but at least around here, that's the case. Here is Eastern Oregon, we have one company that invested minimal money of their own, but bilked the state for millions, and uses state money (mine, no less) to deploy fiber to compete with non subsidized WISP's and other ISP's. And, since their contract is written in a certain way, they use the LEAST cost effective means of reaching people. They get paid by the state to waste money, IMO. And are they friendly to being cooperative iwth other ISP's? Hell no. Every time you offer public subsidy, you simply invite the taxpayers to get screwed endlessly. And we're ALL taxpayers. If you want to lobby DC and get my support, then the following words and this idea will NEVER surface in what you say... "Give us money from the taxpayers". If you want to talk tax breaks, if you want to talk legal classifications, if you want to talk about barriers to services, etc, etc... by all means, do so... but you lose me everytime you say "we need money". If you can't make the business case for it without subsidy or grants, IT SHOULD NOT BE DONE. Period. And those poor whiny souls who bellyache about "the position we hold in broadband penetration" can have endless bleeding ulcers over it, they have no point worth considering. As I've said before... lots of people here are arguing that "since it's going to be spent, get your share". NO! If it has to start somewhere, it starts with me. I take nothing. Zilch. Never. Ever. Just do the right thing. Eventually, doing the right thing will be popular and can be sold to the saps in DC. But it has to start somewhere. Even if it starts AND ENDS with me... I'm doing the right thing, period. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ <insert witty tagline here> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Unger" <jun...@ask-wi.com> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 2:19 PM Subject: [WISPA] ARTICLE - What's the U.S. Doing Wrong with Broadband ? > > http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Whats-The-US-Doing-Wrong-With-Broadband-101328 > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
