[IP] A Clash of Principles in Philly
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From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: December 6, 2004 6:50:32 PM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] A Clash of Principles in Philly
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A Clash of Principles in Philly
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Dec 6, 2004
By: Robert Poe
America's Network Enews
<http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/
articleDetail.jsp?id=136801>
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The words "idealistic" and "industry" don't often appear side by side
in a sentence. But in reality, the telecommunications industry is one
whose products almost universally benefit people ‹ unlike, say, the
donut industry. That fact sheds light on the recent dispute between
Philadelphia and Verizon over the city's plan to offer public Wi-Fi
service, casting it as a clash of two historically contrasting
principles, each aimed at improving people's lives by helping them
communicate better. We can expect more such clashes in the future.
The dispute revolved around a proposed Pennsylvania state law, two
years in the making, that would prohibit government entities at any
level from offering public broadband services without first giving
private providers the chance to do so. Verizon and other carriers
backed the law, which also provided funding to boost broadband Internet
access for institutions like libraries and schools in the state.
Philadelphia realized that the law could allow Verizon, which offers
EV-DO high-speed wireless data service over its cellular network, as
well as DSL, to veto the city's plan to provide a city-wide public
Wi-Fi service. So it raised such a ruckus that Governor Ed Rendell held
off on signing the bill into law until Verizon signed an agreement
promising not to block the city's plan. Verizon signed just before the
end of the legislative year, and so did Rendell.
The principle behind the law was the same one that sparked the
communications revolution of the past several decades. It calls for
leaving it to private companies to compete to provide communications
services to the public. The tidal wave of deregulation and
privatization of monopoly and government-owned telecom carriers it
inspired has transformed telecommunications. It has brought everything
from mobile phones that feel nearly weightless to global voice and data
services that, compared to their past prices, seem nearly free. The
results are hard to argue with.
Philadelphia's plan, though, represented an equally important
principle: a government's responsibility to make sure its citizens can
communicate in the ways they need to in order to get by and get ahead.
And the fact that the city, like many others, decided to offer
high-speed Internet access as a public service shows the extent to
which the Internet has become a basic necessity of life, almost like
the telephone itself.
But while well-established procedures and systems of
cross-subsidization ensure that everyone can have a telephone, even
where it won't turn the provider a profit, nothing ensures that
individuals can have access to the Internet. And that is a big problem
for low-income citizens. According to Christopher Baum, a Gartner
analyst, while 60% of all U.S. homes have Internet access, less than a
quarter of homes with incomes under $15,000 do. As a result, "I think
the best approach is to realize that there are people companies aren't
going to serve, and that there has to be some kind of formula to make
sure those people get served," he says.
[snip]
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