How Big Telecom Smothers Municipal Broadband 111
Rick Zeman writes: The Center for Public Integrity has a comprehensive article showing how Big Telecom (aka, AT&T, Comcast, Charter, Time Warner) use lobbyists, paid-for politicians, and lawsuits (both actual and the threat thereof) in their efforts to kill municipal broadband. From the article: "The companies have also used traditional campaign tactics such as newspaper ads, push polls, direct mail and door-to-door canvassing to block municipal networks. And they've tried to undermine the appetite for municipal broadband by paying for research from think tanks and front groups to portray the networks as unreliable and costly."
Stakeholders vs. Customers (Score:3, Interesting)
Seems to me that stakeholders in municipal broadband are a more satisfied lot than the customers of the Telcos (with their paid lobbyists so nicely donating money to the boy/girls scouts to enlist their 'support' for crazy-ass mergers and what-not; nevermind that The Public has Clearly Told The 3 (is it?) commissioners at the FCC to take a flying leap).
Re:This Just In! (Score:5, Interesting)
It's even worse when the big ISPs are trying to kill municipal broadband in an area they don't serve. Because you can't have the government competing with them in an area that they might, someday, begin to consider serving. Until then, the residents should grovel (over dial-up) at the big ISPs' feet for broadband Internet service.
Costly and Unreliable (Score:1, Interesting)
"And they've tried to undermine the appetite for municipal broadband by paying for research from think tanks and front groups to portray the networks as unreliable and costly."
So let me get this straight, per the broadband industry municipal broadband is costly and unreliable, but they, meaning AT&T, ComCast, CenturyLink, cannot compete with "Costly and Unreliable". I think this says more about broadband industry than it does about municipal broadband.
Re:This Just In! (Score:3, Interesting)
In most municipalities, it is impossible to start a small ISP because the city government didn't want to have to talk to more than one supplier of each kind of service. Competition is annoying for bureaucrats, they get two sides making claims and showing evidence, it actually requires work. So much easier to assign a monopoly and approve or reject their requests entirely on personal and political grounds.
Re:This Just In! (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't give a damn about any of that. I only care that these politicians are being reelected over and over. That is a problem of the people.