FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

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NJ Mike,
User Rank: Moderator
10/28/2011 | 6:17:33 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

Choices have consequences. If somebody chooses to live in a rural area, why should I have to subsidize their phone and/or broadband. I bet for the amount of property they own/rent they pay alot less than I do in central NJ. Why don't people in rural areas subsidize my rent?

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wht,
User Rank: Strategist
10/28/2011 | 6:49:48 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

Yes, your choices have consequences. You live in an urban area, have lots of services and opportunities to choose from in relatively short distances from home or work. Rural living is different, distances are far, sometimes in hundreds of miles, in severe weather it's worse to get around, not to mention expensive. You also like to eat...where do you think your food comes from...not NYC or N.J.! Milk, cheese, produce, beef, chicken, eggs, etc. come from rural locations. Rural America needs technology as much as us city folks, but we're in the thousands or millions to offset the cost in short distances. Rural subscribers are up to 150 miles apart, and there could only be 1-5 customers! Take a drive in Montana or the Dakotas, Idaho, eastern Washington, Nevada, even parts of California to get an idea of what distance is, and not freeways or straight roads either. NJ Mike, you show your ignorance by your post.

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EVVJSK,
User Rank: Apprentice
10/28/2011 | 6:54:47 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

Steve Jobs was only in most things for his own benefit.
Recent article indicated he gave very little of his money to charity or anything other than himself (some educational discounts applied, but that was more about future sales than altruism). Taxes or fees have been used to provide benefits to many over the years (Interstate Highway system, Internet, NASA/Space travel science that has gone on to help improve our lives, etc...). Many asked, what's in it for me. If you fail to see the benefits of those things you are either ignorantly blind or you really do have blinders on.

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wb9ddf,
User Rank: Apprentice
10/28/2011 | 7:02:42 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

I can guarantee you that the government will screw it up whenever it becomes involved. I live in a small town in western Illinois. I have the choice of service from Comcast, CenturyLink or a local wireless ISP.

The most interesting service in this area is be from a small local cooperative telephone company that serves a near by area. Since they are subscriber owned, they plough all their profits back into the latest equipment or they pay it out in dividends to the subscribers. Their service puts the big companies to shame.

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ajones320,
User Rank: Apprentice
10/29/2011 | 1:07:41 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

I find it troublesome that phone (landline only I guess, not mobile?) and broadband users have to pay up so that big telcos with outlandish revenues can build infrastructure to be put into a position to rake in even more money. I am all for getting rural areas connected to the information superhighway, but the funding needs to come from those who will make money on it in the end. They will be the only ones who can recoup their investments. And those would be the telcos, but also companies that will gain a lot from farm sourcing. The government needs to stop enabling those companies who already make tons of money to make more tons of money and have the average Joe pay for making it happen.
As for the FCC plan, they should mandate that the networks built are top of the line, not something that is just a wee bit faster than dial-up.

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Rubberman,
User Rank: Apprentice
10/29/2011 | 6:00:12 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

We should be building out the entire country to 100mbps (or higher) ubiquitous broadband, assign everyone who wants it a personal phone # that can follow them everywhere on that broadband network. Until we get the system to that point, we are seriously throttling the potential for economic growth in this country. When I am at home, and turn off my cell phone, calls to my mobile number should be automatically re-routed to my home phone. If someone calls my home phone and I am on the road, the calls should be automatically re-routed to my mobile phone. Yes, with a considerable of futzing about (that I am likely to forget to do when I'm in a rush) I can do most of that now w/ call-forwarding etc, but it isn't the same, and additional charges accrue.

And on it goes. Personally, I'd like to live in a nice house in the country with a big garden and some woods to bird-watch in. I'm an IT consultant, so a lot of my work is from my home office. Unfortunately, current connectivity options when not in town (and sometimes not even then) are limited and expensive. Things need to change, and the major carriers are not allowing necessary changes in our communication infrastructure to occur, instead protecting their legacy income streams. Because they have a choke-hold on our current communication infrastructure and the cost to enter and compete in the market are so prohibitive for new players, this is not likely to change until they are required to.

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lsatenstein,
User Rank: Apprentice
10/29/2011 | 11:05:36 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

Broadband or fibre is the way to go. Then at least with VOIP the rural folks would have telephone, and the web.

Great idea

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lsatenstein,
User Rank: Apprentice
10/29/2011 | 11:06:26 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

Therefore the rural guys should stop paying a large share of Income tax, because they do not use the bridges and highways that take you to and from work.

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UberGoober,
User Rank: Strategist
10/31/2011 | 8:19:56 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

Looking at my Constitution I don't find the clause that allows the government to take money from me to build Internet connectivity for people who choose to live in a location where it is cost-prohibitive. And before you start whining about the REA, remember that that was a New Deal program instituted by a president who didn't let a little thing like the Constitution stand in his way.

If you want to run fiber out to the furthest user who wants it, get your state government to do it. They can, since "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." And if a million bucks worth of fiber generates $25 a month in revenue, well, your state's taxpayers can just subsidize it.

We can't afford to do everything for everyone. That way lies Greece...

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TreeInMyCube,
User Rank: Apprentice
11/2/2011 | 2:58:57 PM

re: FCC's Broadband Plan: What Would Steve Jobs Think?

OldUberGoober's comment reflects a sentiment that underlies a lot of this discussion -- what is the proper role of government in this area of infrastructure? What is the role of for-profit companies? I see analogies to the interstate highway system, vs. state-owned toll roads, vs. local-maintained 4-lane roads. Are the various municipal transit authorities ( PA of NY and NJ, BART, MARTA, CTA as examples) part of the government, or private? It's a really murky situation. OUG, do you find the notion of federal income taxes unconstitutional as well? I thought that the Supreme Court had ruled on that idea, but I might be misremembering.

Part of the justification Eisenhower used for the federal role in the interstate highway system was national defense/security -- being able to move troops and tanks efficiently. That reason doesn't apply to nationwide broadband, but using taxes to promote a national infrastructure for learning and commerce is not so far removed from what the federal government is already doing in those areas.

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