TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's New WiFi

Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's New WiFi

John L. Shelton (john@jshelton.com)
Fri, 09 Sep 2005 16:46:25 -0700

> John, it sounds to me you are either a paid mouth piece (lobbyist) for
> the fixed line providers (LEC or cable company), or employed by
> Qworst, I'm sorry, I mean Qwest.

I am an unpaid mouthpiece for free enterprise. I am currently on
long-term medical leave from a NON telecom company.

It is wrong for SBC to achieve monopoly via political maneuvering, and
it is wrong for the local government to build a tax-subsidized
monopoly. The only fair thing to do is let all interested parties
offer service. If no one finds it economical to do so, that doesn't
imply a government mandate. It might be nice if we all had original
17th century oil paintings in our houses, but "nice" doesn't cut it.

One wouldn't expect government dollars to pay for that (or perhaps we
would -- gee, 17th century oil-paintings are "art" and deserve
government museums, but Elvis Presley is not art, so he can pitch his
music commercially ...)

Once the government has run off all competition by use of subsidies,
who will keep their efforts economical? Will it work like schools,
roads, and the mail, where there is no fraud, waste, or controversy?
Give me a break. When government is the dominant player, things get
broken. Do you really trust the people who won't patch potholes or
widen the highways, yet take billions in road-maintenance money, to
provide you with better and better internet connections "for free?"
With SBC competing against others, they have to offer better service
to earn your repeat business. With the city, you wind up with no
choice.

I understand you think SBC and others can still compete. Just like
private schools compete with public. But it's not real competition,
when the public schools have a $10k/student subsidy. And it won't be
the same with wireless, either.

=John=
john@jshelton.com

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