Reminder: Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee to Meet Thursday October 25 at 9AM
Just a reminder that the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee will be meeting this Thursday, October 25, at 9AM to discuss possible legislation in the upcoming session of the legislature. Proposals include creating a standing commission to oversee potential government competition with private entities, up the reporting requirements for local governments and potentially limit UTOPIA membership yet again. This is probably going to be the last meeting of this subcommittee for the year so it will be critically important that as many of us as possible attend this meeting to head off bad legislation before it gets to the general session.
Hope to see a bunch of you there!
AT&T Plans Ambitious Expansions
As I've said before, it's sometimes a Good Thing™ to let news age for a bit before writing about it. Not only does it let the story develop a bit more fully, but you also get a much better idea of the big picture. Take for example the plans that AT&T has for expanding their reach within and beyond former SBC and BellSouth territories.
AT&T Imitates Sprint and Verizon by Suing Vonage
I'm thinking I might need to change my home phone provider in the not too distant future. Following up on the expensive litigation brought by Sprint and Verizon, Vonage now has to go to court to defend itself against AT&T for alleged patent infringement. It's too early to tell if AT&T's patents are along the lines of Verizon's "we own the Interweb" patent, but my bets are that the prior art defense would play well if Vonage actually has to stones to defend itself instead of rolling over. Then again, history has shown us that Vonage just wants to cough up its lunch money so that the bullies leave it alone.
FCC Delays 700MHz Auction Admidst Much Weeping, Wailing, Gnashing of Teeth
With how ugly the fight for the 700MHz auction has gotten, the FCC has decided to delay the auction by eight days. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin also announced that there will be a limit of $10B on bidding, a move designed to keep big companies from outspending all of their smaller rivals. This comes as Frontline Wireless asks that Verizon be barred from the auction over their pending lawsuit against open access requirements, smaller carriers complain that they don't have a chance and AT&T (among others) voices that the rules are unfair. I could see why some of the potential bidders would be upset. After all, it's come out that the FCC allows some well-connected lobbyists to skirt rules and get information ahead of rivals.
Meanwhile, AT&T has decided to side-step some of the furor and snap up some 700MHz bands from Aloha Partners that won't be up for auction. They'll also not be subject to the same open access rules that the upcoming auction will be encumbered with. That might not matter as the FCC considers the so-called "cellular Carterphone" rule for all cellular phone carriers that would allow any device to be used on any network.
Comcast to Customers: All Your Dollars Are Belong To Us
Seems like Comcast is bumping up rates all over the nation. Chicago, Houston, Seattle, San Francisco and Lancaster, PA have all seen big bumps in pricing from 6.9% to as high as 12.5%. This is on top of a 4.1% increase foisted upon us in January. The company is blaming increased customer service costs; they've hired about 400 more techs and customer service staff. I call it a shameless attempt to use TV revenues to further subsidize their other offerings. How long until the Wasatch Front sees yet another pricing jump?
(Hat tip: The Consumerist)
Report: Woods Cross City Council Meeting, October 16 2007
Last night, I dropped in on the Woods Cross city council meeting to see what would happen during the "workshop" they had planned with UTOPIA, Qwest and Comcast. I think it went well, though the reps from UTOPIA could have done a better job explaining how the system works. Comcast disclosed a few details of planned upgrades (i.e. their "PowerBoost" system now bursts downloads to 12-16Mbps) though it became very obvious to the council that their system was not nearly as good as UTOPIA.
Qwest, as usual, took a different tack. Instead of sending a live person to "answer" questions, they should have just sent a voice recording that said "sorry, we can't say anything in public. We're happy to meet with you privately to skirt open meeting laws discuss our future plans." Nothing against the rep (he seemed like a nice guy when I talked to him after the meeting), but good grief is it suspicious when you do that kind of thing. Neither of the reps from Qwest or Comcast seemed to be particularly prepared, somewhat amazing considering that they had the questions to be answered in advance of the meeting.
Heartland Institute Posts Bizarre Account of Subcommittee Events
This is just… I don't know. Go read the Heartland Institute's latest assault on municipal fiber projects to see for yourself. As someone who was at the same meeting that Mr. Titch attended, I find myself wondering how the two of us walked away with such different versions of the same story. It's time to set the record straight since truth is not on Mr. Titch's side.
Update: Woods Cross Meeting Moved to 7:30PM
I've just gotten notice that the workshop being held tomorrow in Woods Cross will be bumped to 7:30PM from 8:00PM. This isn't a public hearing, but they will allow the public to ask questions. Make sure you show up and take advantage of it!
How To Bring UTOPIA To Your City
UPDATE: This post is badly out of date. Why not go read the latest version?
I get asked on a fairly regular basis how a regular citizen can manage to get UTOPIA rolling in their area. While there’s no magic bullet, this How To should put you on the right track.
- Put together a strong proposal to make your case. Make a 10-minute presentation that covers why your city needs to join UTOPIA and summarize those remarks in a 1-2 page letter. It’s better to have your arguments together first and then find someone to present them to. Don’t know where to start? Grab this PowerPoint presentation and replace [My City] with the name of your city: UTOPIA Presentation
- Identify city council members who would be interested. Look for those with a background in data-intensive fields such as technology, research, real estate or construction. They’ve likely had to work with sending or receiving large amounts of data that took forever to finish. As much as I don’t like to get partisan over here, my experience has shown that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be interested in broadband policy. Make contact with those most likely to support membership in UTOPIA before presenting to the city council as a whole. Don’t forget the try the mayor’s office while you’re at it.
- Ask for an agenda item at your next city council meeting. Believe it or not, you too can speak to the city council about whatever you want. Find out who’s in charge of city council agenda items in your city and ask them if you can do a presentation on UTOPIA. More often than not, you can get about 10 minutes to speak. I’ve managed to get a slot at a legislative committee hearing, so it’s not that big of a deal.
- Get prepared for your meeting. Tell friends and family about the meeting and encourage them to attend. The best people to have there are ones that will speak about how UTOPIA will help their businesses. Also make sure you get the word out to UTOPIA supporters in other cities so that you can have them testify about the benefits of UTOPIA. I’m happy to post any UTOPIA-related news or announcement here and I’m sure the folks on the Pro-UTOPIA e-mail list would be equally interested.
- Be ready for an intense Q&A session. The city council will hammer you with financial questions. Make sure you’ve prepared by reading up on when UTOPIA expects to go revenue-positive (2012) and how much it costs the city to join (a feasibility study, no cost for non-pledging, a trust fund for pledging). Above all, don’t be afraid to defer questions to a UTOPIA representative if you don’t know the specifics. Feasibility studies are priced on a case-by-case basis and will contain information on how much sales tax revenue would need to be set aside for pledging status. Some Q&A sessions can last a half hour or longer depending on the council.
- Plan for follow-up presentations. Cities don’t jump into these things based on a single presentation no matter how slick it might be. Plan for future city council meetings as representatives from UTOPIA, Qwest and Comcast may be invited. Make good use of the public comment periods and make sure as many supporters as possible do so as well.
- Above all, thank the council for their time. They’re pretty busy folks who are sacrificing as much time as you are to hear what you have to say. You’re also asking them to put some money (and their future election prospects) on the line. They need to know what you appreciate their hard work and sacrifice.
Still getting stuck? Feel free to e-mail me for help. I’m glad to put together and even conduct presentations to help spread UTOPIA as far as possible. I can also put you in touch with some representatives at UTOPIA who are happy to give your council members a tour of the facilities and provide their own presentations.
Feeds Switched to FeedBurner
All of the feeds on the site have been updated to use FeedBurner now instead of the built-in WordPress feeds. This should resolve some feed compatibility issues that have popped up in the past. If you aren't getting updated items anymore, you might want to re-subscribe with your RSS reader using the new feed.