Archive for September, 2006
Thursday, September 21st, 2006
The First Salvo: My Letter to Mayor Corroon and the County Council
This is the first round of letters to County Mayor Peter Corroon and members of the County Council to urge them to put pressure on state lawmakers to change secion 10-18-105 of the Municipal Cable Television and Public Telecommunications Services Act. Feel free to copy/paste and mail your own letter. The more of us they [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Communications by Jesse
Wednesday, September 20th, 2006
Cable Monopolies Drive Up Prices, Drive Down Competition
Big surprise: cable companies leverage their monopoly status in local markets to increase prices at double-digit rates and keep competition from even getting started. Prescribing a solution to remove control from local communities, however, is very misguided. If Michigan took some cues from Utah, prices could be driven down by deploying a competitive municipal broadband [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Wednesday, September 20th, 2006
Santa Clara University to Host Municipal Broadband Symposium
It's not exactly in our neck of the woods, but worth mentioning. Santa Clara University is holding a conference on municipal broadband and is specifically inviting the underserved from Silicon Valley to help formulate public policy on broadband. This sounds like just the kind of thing we need in our neck of the woods to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Events, News by Jesse
Wednesday, September 20th, 2006
Communications Networks are as Critical to Business as Transportation
This op-ed piece goes very in-depth on the negative consequences of not having a communications network that's up to snuff. Chicago has lost lots of jobs to more-wired cities like Charlotte, N.C., and Utah's tech-heavy economy could see similar results if we don't pony up for better broadband.
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Wednesday, September 20th, 2006
A Soccer Stadium More Important Than Broadband?
There's a great editorial from the Salt Lake City Weekly slamming Salt Lake City's decision to pull out of UTOPIA while ponying up a mountain of cash for a soccer stadium. Them's some seriously messed-up priorities.
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
WiMax Won’t Break Monopolies
Many industry pundits are hedging their bets on WiMax being The Next Big Thin(TM) in broadband. To hear them tell it, WiMax will make for dozens of competing ISPs with varying prices and speeds and overall lower costs. Not only is this view unrealistic for the technology, but it's unrealistic for the business.
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by Jesse
Monday, September 18th, 2006
Rural Internet Access Shutout Caused by Telcos’ Broken Promises
It's not surprising to read, but many in rural areas are shut out from high-speed Internet options since most telcos and cablecos refuse to expand there. Oh, they'll line up to the trough for the $2 billion rural telecommunications loan pool, but actually doing something with it is a different matter. Maybe these smaller counties [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Monday, September 18th, 2006
Support HR 5252!
HR 5252 includes provisions to encourage development of municipal broadband, ensure Net Neutrality, and update telecommunications laws to work with VoIP. This summary provides a breakdown of the bill and the great things it will accomplish. Let's write our legislators to encourage support of this bill so that companies like Qwest and SBC can [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cheers, Legislation by Jesse
Sunday, September 17th, 2006
Builders in Wisconsin Sue Over Municipal Broadband Requirements
A group of homebuilders in Wisconsin have sued the city they're building in for asking them to install dedicated conduit for their municipal broadband project. While they claim that it's requiring them to install a non-essential service, access to data over the Internet has rapidly become the one-stop shop for information. With telephone and television [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Sunday, September 17th, 2006
High-Speed Internet Brings Benefits to Rural Canadians
A private company in the far reaches of Nunavut, Canada is providing high-speed satellite Internet access to remote villages. The service has been bringing increased access to goods and services and the information is helping local businesses improve the way they operate. Of course, this comes at a price: $60 a month for the service, [...]
