[RTC List] Broadband access policy case

[Josh Koenig]

Hey Will,

I think you put your finger on the crux of the issue when you point  
out that "last mile" is really the problem for most of the nation,  
though for many rural areas, steady consistent connection (or  
something that can deliver over lengthy "last mile" distances) is  
still an issue.

IMHO this is what makes the interstate or rural electrification such  
compelling parallels. There's no reason any of us should have to  
sacrifice quality of life for better bandwidth, especially in the  
coming decade(s), but the truth is that the telco industry is unlikely  
to want to make the real infrastructure investments on their own to  
distribute the existing resources in all areas. This isn't just a  
rural, big-country issue either: it's economic as well. One has to  
look no further than how Verizon has been "redlining" their FIOS  
rollout to see that.

Rural electrification and a free, high-quality interstate highway  
system were big infrastructure investments that made the 20th century  
economy possible. Getting to true Universal Service with world-class  
internet is, I think, similarly important to having a robust 21st  
century economy.

Technologically speaking there's absolutely no reason the physical  
distances of the US should pose a real barrier. If we can string  
copper wires into every holler in Kentucky and across every vast  
Nevadan desert, there's no reason we can't string fiber too, or save a  
bunch of money w/quality wireless. It's just a question of whether we  
decide that Universal Service is infrastructure worth investing in, as  
we did w/roads, electricity and telephones. Here's hoping!

-j

> I really don't see the connection here. Having been employed in the
> telecom industry for the past 15+ years, I can tell you for a fact  
> that
> there is definitely no "internet shortage" in this country. Places  
> like
> Humboldt County are in the minority. In most parts of the country  
> there is
> a glut of unused "dark fiber". This is due to a massive overbuild of  
> fiber
> during the late 90's and early 2000's. That construction largely  
> ceased
> when the dot com bubble burst. The capacity is still sitting there
> underground waiting to be lit up though.
>
> Just look at the price consumers are paying for broadband compared to
> 10-15 years ago. For $19 a month these days, you can get download  
> speeds
> of up to 1 MBps. When I started computing, access to the internet was
> around $1 per minute, and you could only access it via a 14.4KBps  
> modem!
> Similarly, long distance telephone service (which used to use fiber)  
> was
> selling for about 17-20 cents per minute. Now, you can get wholesale  
> rates
> of less than 1 cent per minute. Retail prices are closer to 3 cents  
> per
> minute.
>
> IMHO, the only way that the U.S. lags the rest of the world is when it
> comes to how it is distributed. The USA is just way, way too  
> physically
> large a country to ever have it be cost effective to bring broadband
> everywhere, such as in South Korea and Japan, where people live in  
> sardine
> cans. Personally, I'm fine with the amount of bandwidth I need for  
> my own
> business purposes. The question is, if I want more, am I willing to
> sacrifice the quality of life that I have here for some overcrowded  
> urban
> wasteland with more options for faster internet.
>
>
>
> William Van Hefner
> President
>
> Vantek Communications, Inc.
> e-mail: van at humboldtonline.com
>
>
> On Fri, June 6, 2008 7:41 am, Sean McLaughlin wrote:
>>
>
>> The Cure for America's Internet
>> <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/the-cure-for-americas-int_b_10
>> 4963.html>
>>
>>
>>
>> by Tim Karr in Huffington Post
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/46nvfl
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> excerpt:
>>
>>
>>
>> "When President Eisenhower set Amer-
>> icans to work building the nations' Inter- state Highway System he
>> mobilized members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to  
>> appropriate
>> federal funds and create corporate incentives for the construction of
>> 41,000 miles of new
>> roads.  It was the largest infrastructure project in American  
>> history to
>> that point, but the $25 billion in federal money set aside to build  
>> the
>> nations main arteries yielded an almost immediate return to our  
>> nation's
>> economy.
>>
>> The construction of a universally access-
>> ible Internet superhighway ranks as important today, and it can be  
>> accomp-
>> lished with even stronger collaboration between the public and  
>> private
>> sector.
>>
>> Future policymakers who are serious
>> about America's well-being should learn from our failings and from  
>> success
>> in other countries so we can deliver the vast benefits of an open
>> connection to every American.  It's time we started construction."
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
>
>
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------------------------------------------
Josh Koenig, Partner
http://www.chapterthreellc.com
AOL IM: chap3josh
1-888-822-4273