(2008-12-04) Broadband Coalition

A Coalition has been formed to pitch the feds for a national Broad Band push (not necessarily WireLess). This sounds like a pitch for an Infrastructure Subsidy, not an OpenNet. Jim Baller, a key player, has a history of defending municipal networks from the big TelCo players, so there's at least some good-faith in this group. But I'm dubious about long-term overall effect...

Bob Frankston responds to the concept. Remember that the Internet and TeleCom are unrelated business - did we ask the railroads to build and operate the interstate HighWay system?... We aren't using the inherent capacity we have today in existing copper and fiber and radios so why do we have an agenda to have a strategy to petition to beg to get more of what we don't use and not assure that we can be connected everywhere all the time and that we can all extend coverage without having to petition a carrier to convince them they will make money from it... Instead of Federal funding what we need is liberation from telecom and nonexclusive community ownership of physical local facilities with all the RF, Fiber and radios just contributing to the commons. As local owners of the physical facilities encouraged to find maximum value (rather than metering) we'll see price/performance improvement beyond our ability to imagine - as if we hadn't seen it before whenever we've had a chance to liberate the market.