Stop the Broadbandits

Rare it is in politics and life to get a second chance at a huge opportunity. But by reversing a catastrophic decision of the Federal Communications Commission that has paralyzed America's telecom industry, a U.S. court has given the Bush administration a new chance to escape the blame for killing broadband in the U.S.

I jsut don't buy this turn the nice Telco's loose thing.

Freedom is not a desirable thing?

Personally, one good point he brought up was taxation. Business and Corporation tax in the US should be as close to 0% as possible. What's the reasoning for taxing the telecommunications industry so high? Abolish corporate tax. It would be great for the economy.

Abolish corporate tax. It would be great for the economy

Agreed!

Freedom is not a desirable thing?

Sure it is thats' why SBC has invested so heavily in other foreign companies including "Telephonos de Mexico". They just take the profits from the T1 customers and run to a more lucrative market which is less regulated? Hmmm... Mexico's phone industry is less regulated than the US now thats a stretch.

jsut = just

So, you don't think the government regulate the US telcom industry enough or what? I'm not really sure what you're saying. Government regulation usually has a negative impact on industry. Minimal regulation is fine, something that provides an atmosphere for the companies to compete in. But too much is negative.

Look at California's Energy Crisis. Government Regulation. That's what did it. What I hear this fellow saying in this article is that bandwidth/telecommunications is heading towards a similar crisis in America because of gov't regulations.

Why not do all we can to have America catch up with some of these Asian countries he listed? Why not do everything we can to make America number one on the list instead of number 11?

Long distance phone service seems like an old fashioned notion to me. I mean, I'm in Edinburgh, Scotland and communicating with you just like you're over on Princes Street. If everyone had broadband, what would be the difference if we were using voice messages over the net and making a long distance phone call? I'm not going to pay anymore if I keep this conversation with you going for days on end but if I were to open a telephone connection with you in the States and just let it go for days like that- wow, that would cost a lot of money. It makes no sense to me.

I think the role of gov't in industry should be to make sure they are able to move forward and pull the nation into the future rather than throw roadblocks up.

His line about socializing profit while privitizing risk is spot on. A telco customer in the boonies is charged the same amount as a telco customer in a copper rich suburban environment. Treating all loops as equal was stupid. It made investment in far off rural spots where profit was already slim to none grind down to a halt.

But on the obvious and key issues affecting the transformation of the nation's copper telephone network into a broadband fiber optic one, the commission has bogged down in politics and corporate subterfuge.

Gilder is simply acting as a stooge for the Baby Bells. If he got his way, the result would be to eliminate states rights, and deepen the market entrenchment of the 100-year-old copper lines. Gilder's ideas will result in less broadband availability, not more.

Gilder's proposal is bad policy. Broadband, unlike telephone service, does not have baggage requiring providers to string fiber into rural areas that aren't economically viable. That's actually a good thing. I don't want to subsidize "the last mile" if that last mile happens to be in Bumfart Canyon, Arizona. There is a cost associated with universal coverage for broadband -- and pundits such as Gilder care less about the cost than achieving some idealistic quest for universal coverage.

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