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FCC voted to subsidize rural broadband through the Connect America Fund

her209 said:
Why can't these rural folk just move to an area where broadband is available or do without???
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I live about 4 miles from the middle of town, and DSL stops about 1/2 mile from my house.

SBC REFUSES to build the area for DSL.

This means my cable modem provider can charge whatever they want, give crappy speeds, and I have to put up with it.
 
FCC F'd up big time with the wireless spectrum auctions. They should have stated to all the providers, and partners of the providers, that to bid on the wireless spectrum, they needed to have all addresses in the states they offered wireline coverage available to have wireline broadband.

AT&T, Verizon, etc. could have decided if it was worth it to spend a Billion or four to bring in more money for broadband, so as to get wireless crack spectrum, or not. I have a sneaky suspicion they'd have somehow managed to get the rest of the US on a wireline broadband option, still bought their wireless crack spectrum, and still posted healthy profits.

Score another "win" for .Gov...
 
I have no problems with people in rural areas paying more. That's the choice they made. Those of us living in the city pay more for other things.

Supply demand is a beutiful thing.
 
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Broadband shouldn't be looked at any differently than road or education. It's basic infrastructure, and it's needed even in rural areas. The fact there are still places in this country with inadequate broadband or even no broadband at all is embarrassing. The issue here isn't government taxing folks to spread broadband, it's relying on the same shit companies that have cause the hold up in the first place to implement it. It's like subsidizing oil companies to innovate green energy.
 
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OP, perhaps you missed the right to high speed internet in the constitution? Has to be there somewhere. 🙄
 
CPA said:
Yeah, another entitlement.
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I do not think its an entitlement.

Where I live, its almost like the cable modem provider and the dsl provider have divided up the area and agreed not to compete with each other.

There is a nice middle class neighborhood at the edge of the dsl service, but the dsl provider will not extend the lines to provide service. Its probably a couple of hundred homes that can get cable modem, but no dsl.

I have cable modem at my home, but its crappy service that is nowhere near the national average speed.

Something has to be done to get companies to build areas for high speed internet. We should have had high speed a decade ago. But its "not worth it" for the companies to build the area.

What can you say about a company refuses to provide a service that is in demand? If I could get DSL, I would drop the cable modem, but once again, there is a lack of competition in the area.
 
her209 said:
Why can't these rural folk just move to an area where broadband is available or do without???
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Why should people in cities have cheap internet? Everyone has a right to broadband. You can raise the internet tax in these high density areas and people would not even notice. You could then run fiber to smaller communities.
 
woolfe9999 said:
Infrastructure=entitlement? In other words, if the government is doing it, it's a bad thing. Ideological dogma>reality.
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There were probably people opposed to the highway system, but we see how that turned out.


1950s - Silly people living outside major cities, why do they need paved roads?

2010s - Silly people living outside major cities, why do they need internet?
 
Texashiker said:
I live about 4 miles from the middle of town, and DSL stops about 1/2 mile from my house.

SBC REFUSES to build the area for DSL.

This means my cable modem provider can charge whatever they want, give crappy speeds, and I have to put up with it.
Click to expand...
Why can't you move the 1/2 mile to get the service you want?
 
Gonad the Barbarian said:
Broadband shouldn't be looked at any differently than road or education. It's basic infrastructure, and it's needed even in rural areas. The fact there are still places in this country with inadequate broadband or even no broadband at all is embarrassing. The issue here isn't government taxing folks to spread broadband, it's relying on the same shit companies that have cause the hold up in the first place to implement it. It's like subsidizing oil companies to innovate green energy.
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Explain to me why broadband is "needed."

For you and for me, yes maybe we need it. But is it really a necessity for everyone? No.

Broadband is not on the same scale as education.

I'm saying this as someone who didn't have real broadband at home until this past spring when I moved, so I've been there, done that.
 
As someone who lives in Rural area, I can say there is absolutely no option for me to have a decent high speed internet.

Is that my fault? Sure it is...
Am I willing to pay a premium for decent internet? Sure I am... So would anybody else in my area.

The problem is this:

In Rural areas, the housing density is so low that phone companies will never recoup the costs of basic infrastrucutre and operations. Basic infrastructure like 3g internet is available, but cell towers are expensive, and if there are only 100 households servicing that cell tower, its never going to be worth building and maintaining the tower.

The end result: People in Rural areas will never have a decent high speed internet.

I've been looking for years. I have no issues paying $80 a month for 1mb downloads with a consistent <100ms ping. It will never be available in my area. I've been to county meetings, I've talked to every provider in my area. All of them have said if I want decent internet, I just need to move.

What really bothers me out of all of it... On my phone bill I have a fraction of my bill paying for poor inner city citizens (and probably non citizens) to get free phones/internet service, yet I am willing to pay a premium for the service, and I can't even get it... As they say life is not fair, and I think its time for people in the city to help out some rural folks. Or atleast allow a portion of what I pay to the poor inner city to be used around my place. TYVM.
 
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SparkyJJO said:
Explain to me why broadband is "needed."

For you and for me, yes maybe we need it. But is it really a necessity for everyone? No.

Broadband is not on the same scale as education.

I'm saying this as someone who didn't have real broadband at home until this past spring when I moved, so I've been there, done that.
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How about you go ahead and try to explain how broadband isn't needed for individuals and businesses from here on going forward? You got by without, congrats, but businesses and students aren't going to thrive without broadband in today's world.
 
her209 said:
Why can't you move the 1/2 mile to get the service you want?
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And if whole communities didn't have good road infrastructure, why weren't they just expected to disband those communities and move to areas that did? I think we need to build infrastructure where people are, not expect people to uproot and move to where there's already infrastructure.
 
Texashiker said:
I live about 4 miles from the middle of town, and DSL stops about 1/2 mile from my house.

SBC REFUSES to build the area for DSL.

This means my cable modem provider can charge whatever they want, give crappy speeds, and I have to put up with it.
Click to expand...

The free market at work.
 
her209 said:
Why can't you move the 1/2 mile to get the service you want?
Click to expand...

We are supposed to pack 8,000 - 9,000 people into a 6 - 8 mile diameter circle?


SparkyJJO said:
Explain to me why broadband is "needed."

For you and for me, yes maybe we need it. But is it really a necessity for everyone? No.

Broadband is not on the same scale as education.
Click to expand...

Limiting broadband = limiting my economic options.

As a video blogger and as someone who runs a couple of websites, I have to have some kind of high speed internet. Could you imagine trying to upload an 800 meg video to youtube with dial up?

Saying people do not deserve high speed internet, is the same as telling people they do not deserve a job, or do not deserve the same ability as you to earn a living.

If you have the ability to earn a living, then so should I. And part of my ability relies on high speed internet.
 
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Texashiker said:
We are supposed to pack 8,000 - 9,000 people into a 6 - 8 mile diameter circle?




Limiting broadband = limiting my economic options.

As a video blogger and as someone who runs a couple of websites, I have to have some kind of high speed internet. Could you imagine trying to upload an 800 meg video to youtube with dial up?

Saying people do not deserve high speed internet, is the same as telling people they do not deserve a job, or do not deserve the same ability as you to earn a living.

If you have the ability to earn a living, then so should I. And part of my ability relies on high speed internet.
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Welcome to the Party, comrade Texashiker.
 
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