Senator Clinton Introduces Rural Broadband Bill

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Michael Preiss <michael.preiss () earthlink net>
Date: April 3, 2007 5:38:29 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Senator Clinton Introduces Rural Broadband Bill

If this isn't a government boondoggle - and a giant double-BOHICA for  
the rest of America - in the making, I don't know what is.  If this  
bill comes to pass, it won't be the broadband providers who pay for  
this initiative, it will be their customers, in the form of some type  
of surcharge or user fee.  Or perhaps the Dems will be bold enough to  
call it what it really is - a tax.

Will service providers really obtain ROIs worth their time and money  
by spending hundreds of millions of dollars building infrastructure  
and capacity (in some cases) in places that have a smaller  
concentration of people per square mile than space contains oxygen  
molecules?  Are the "beneficiaries" of this bill going to be able to  
afford to pay for the service?  Do they have computers?  Can they  
afford computers if they don't already have them?  Maybe there needs  
to be a tax placed on computers so we can subsidize the manufacturing  
of computers for people who can't afford or don't want them.  As if  
we don't have enough hands in our pockets already.

What I mentioned in the previous paragraph was only the BOHICA.  How  
this is going to be mismanaged is a combination of a boondoggle and  
the second BOHICA.  First, what the heck does the Department of  
Agriculture know about broadband, communications and the economics of  
that industry?  I don't think too much.  Does it make any sense  
whatsoever to build the same level of incapabilities within the DOA -  
which is what I hope happens to this bill - that already exists  
within another bloated government agency, the FCC?  I don't think so.

Now we have another needless bureaucracy in the making, inside an  
existing needless bureaucracy that already contains more pork than a  
pig farm has pigs, that's going to need funding.  The government sure  
isn't going to rob Peter to pay Paul.  It's going to rob us, the  
taxpayers.  We are going to be socked with having to pay to fund the  
initiative for service providers and for the bureaucrats to provide  
undersight, mismanagement and corruption.

Looking at this from another angle, this bill could be a bluebird for  
those ISPs that use satellite technology to deliver their services.   
They already have the delivery channels.  Could the existence of  
satellite technology negate the need for Clinton's bill?  Could  
Clinton's bill begin an argument that satellite providers must share  
- or sell at a sizable discount - their bandwidth with ISPs who don't  
use satellite technology but want to sell their services to the rural  
market?

There are definitely many facets to this jewel-less gem of an issue.


David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> Date: April 2, 2007 8:02:01 PM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Senator Clinton Introduces Rural Broadband Bill
>
> Senator Clinton Introduces Rural Broadband Bill
>
>     Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) introduced legislation on Friday  
> entitled The Rural Broadband Initiatives Act (S.1032). According to  
> a statement from Senator Clinton, this legislation “will extend and  
> improve access to broadband services in small towns across  
> America.”  The bill would establish an Office of Rural Broadband  
> Initiatives within the Department of Agriculture. It would also  
> establish a Rural Broadband Innovation fund to explore and develop  
> cutting edge broadband delivery technologies to reach underserved  
> rural areas.
>
> <http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=271662&&;>
>
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