17 June 2022

We Just Keep Throwing Billions At Telecom Monopolies In Exchange For Half-Completed, Shitty Broadband Networks

What the Journal just weirdly omits is that consistently terrible U.S. federal and state broadband policy is the byproduct of 30 years of lobbying by regional monopolies. Every shred of U.S. telecom policy dysfunction exists to the direct benefit of entrenched giants that don’t want to try very hard.
We can’t measure broadband gaps accurately.
We can’t track where subsidies go very well.
We can’t protect consumers from very obvious telecom pricing scams.
Policymakers in both parties rarely if ever acknowledge that monopolies exist or that consolidation exists.
Fri, Jun 17th 2022 05:25am -
 
We Just Keep Throwing Billions At Telecom Monopolies In Exchange For Half-Completed, Shitty Broadband Networks
The future is here but it's not evenly distributed

 

Telecom monopoly lobbyists are already hard at work trying to ensure that this money all goes to them (for their perpetually half-delivered networks) and not to any potential competitors. That’s proven to be particularly easy in some states where telecom monopolies effectively control the legislatures.

The State of Broadband in America, Q4 2020

So yeah, the U.S. government is a mess, Congress can’t function, and a lot of states aren’t much better. But that’s not necessarily because government itself is inherently flawed, it’s because this is the desired outcome from a generation of lobbying by monopolies that like things precisely how they are. Big news outlets and politicians alike avoid mentioning this because it’s in their financial best interests to avoid it."

RELATED

Introduction:

The 'Digital Divide' Didn't Just Show Up One Day. It's The Direct Result Of Telecom Monopolization

from the can't-fix-what-you-don't-acknowledge dept

 
Insert: "We've noted for a while that the entirety of DC has a blind spot when it comes to discussing the U.S. broadband problem. As in, U.S. broadband is plagued by regional monopolies that literally pay Congress to pretend the problem isn't happening.
That's not an opinion.
Image result for community. broadband ANIMATED GIF

Panel Two: Broadband Infrastructure Needs
Where are the gaps in broadband infrastructure in our country?
What can be done to improve access for the underserved and the unserved?

John Brown, CISSP, President / CTO,  CityLink Telecommunications NM, LLC
Jonathan Chambers, Partner, Conexon LLC.
Christopher Mitchell, Policy Director, Next Century Cities
Matt Rantanen, Director of Technology, Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association
Jory Wolf, Vice President, Digital Innovation, Magellan Advisors

Presentation on PAWR: Bill McGuire, US Ignite, PAWR Project Office

Lunch and Keynote

Breakout Session One: Models 101
What are the ways in which a counties, cities, or towns might successfully bring broadband to their communities?

Mitch Drake, Executive Engagement Leader, Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc.
Mark Feest, General Manager, Churchill Communications
Mark Goldstein, President, International Research Center
Andrew T. Gonzales, PIO/Telecom Manager, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative
Virgil Turner, Director of Innovation and Citizen Engagement, Montrose, CO

more

This is a map of America’s broadband problem

A county-by-county look at the broadband gap

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