Tag: Municipal Wi-Fi

As reported by Christopher Mitchel from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Qwest has scored quite the little victory in its efforts to keep itself (and the good people it serves in Minnesota) from the evil socialist menace known as “local government providing broadband when the incumbent does a lousy job.”

Apparently,MN State Senator Bakk and MN State Rep Dill introduced a bill that would have made it easier to for local governments to build municipal networks. Right now, it takes a local referendum vote with 65% to authorize a locality to build a network that offers commercial telephone service (and therefore any “triple play” broadband access service — or so they read it in MN).

Ya know, if my state got a grant for $24.5 million to build out broadband networks in underserved areas, I would jump for joy. But I’m not in the Maine legislature, so what do I know?

Last month, NTIA gave Great Works internet in Maine $24.5 million toward a fiber optic network. The grant is a classic public/private partnership for a middle mile project that includes, among others the University of Maine.

Fairpoint, Maine’s primary rural LEC, has objected to this “undue competition with the private sector.” This would be funny, given how Fairpoint has become the poster child for the failure of the private sector to deliver on its big promises to rural communities. But Fairpoint’s talking points have ended up in legislation filed by Maine State Senator Lisa Marrache (D-Waterville) and Maine State Rep.

A new PKTV series, “Oh Hollywood!” focusses on … well, it’s kind of self explanatory. In this first episode we highlight the recent goings on in Coshocton, a small rural town in Ohio, that provides free WiFi in public areas in the community. It’s a service that’s used by citizens, businesses, and even the local police. Last week, Sony Pictures Entertainment, a Hollywood movie studio, threateningly notified the city that allegedly someone may have illegally downloaded one its movies. And so, the city’s free public Internet access, used by hundreds, was shut down.

All together, now … Oh Hollywood!

Let me say at the outset that the more I dig into the stimulus bill (barring the tax cuts) the more impressed I get. The team that worked on broadband stimulus in particular really put careful thought into how to create a package that would go to underserved or unserved communties urban and rural communities, would re-enforce community institutions, and would provide a boost for both competition and open networks. Consider the following:

The RUS program ($2.5 bn): 1) May make grants as well as loans; 2) Should prioritize projects “that will deliver end users a choice of more than one service provider.”

The Technologies Opportunity Program (TOP) at NTIA (Aprox. $4.3 bn): 1) Provides that local and state government and entities and non-profit entities are the only entities automatically eligible.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Presidental Transition’s FCC review team and a few like-minded public interest organizations to talk about what a broadband stimulus package should look like. The main question: if Congress allocates some stimulus money for broadband-related purposes, what would we propose to do with it and what would those proposals accomplish for the economy and our national broadband infrastructure? While a number of great ideas were discussed which would stimulate investment and create jobs, there were some underlying themes which we think any plan should embody: infrastructure improvement, competition, and openness.

All one needs to do is go to the Presidential Transition website, Change.gov, to see how busy the various agency review teams and policy working groups have been getting the new administration ready to take over the reins of government on January 20. The agency review teams are busy talking to the current occupants of agencies like the Federal Communications Commission to determine what their current agendas are and how things can be improved in the future. The policy working are thinking only of the future and how to implement policies going forward in areas like the economy, health care and national security. And both types of teams are meeting with stakeholders to get their ideas on how the Administration should proceed.

Today, PK was a participant in two meetings organized by the Media and Democracy Coalition. Nearly 40 individuals representing two dozen public interest organizations and foundations attended.

Gigi was on the Kojo Nnamdi show public radio program earlier today, discussing broadband policy with Robert Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and Scott Wallsten of the Technology Policy Institute.

She used her time to push for policies that would increase broadband competition and choices for consumers, which would lower prices and increase speeds of service. In contrast, Atkinson called telecommunications a “natural monopoly” akin to water and electric power — a view that went out of style decades ago.

Wallsten attacked the international rankings that show the U.S. slipping in broadband penetration. Gigi’s view was that the in-the-weeds details are irrelevant. Regardless of how you slice and dice it, we’re slipping and it’s time to get busy with a new policy.

You can hear the show here.

Here’s the view in the studio with (from left clockwise) Kojo, Atkinson, Gigi and Wallsten.

New America Foundation
1630 Connecticut Ave, NW
7th Floor
Washington, DC

The New American Foundation will sponsor a panel discussion titled: “The Future of Municipal Wireless: The Two States of Pennsylvania”.

For additional program information, and to RSVP, please visit: http://www.newamerica.net/events/2008/two_states_pennsylvania

• Last week Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Daniel Inouye (D-HI) introduced the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, which would require schools to offer education on social networking, chat rooms, and ‘cyberbullying.’ Senator Stevens introduced a bill by the same name earlier this year which would have blocked social networking sites from school computers.

• Susan Crawford has a very nice wrap-up of the issues surrounding the 700 MHz auction rule-making:

Buried deep on the cheery financial results for Verizon earlier today was one figure of which the FCC should take note: The company had $844 million in wholesale revenue in the second quarter of this year.

The company already has a modest number of wholesale wireless customers, although the revenues aren’t broken out separately as they are on the wireline side. Those figures alone, shown in Verizon’s financial news release and accompanying materials should be further proof that the FCC is being somewhat timid in backing away from a wholesale concept for the 700 MHz auction. Requiring open access, including wholesale, isn’t a venture into the unknown. It’s a validation of the known.