Why WiFi? City Governments Should Stay Out

By : Cord Blomquits

Wireless Internet access is a good thing-which is exactly why cities
shouldn't provide it.

Back when Saturday Night Live was still funny, Lily Tomlin's character
Ernestine, the ill-mannered telephone operator, deftly parodied all
that was wrong with the old phone system when she proclaimed the phone
company's motto: "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone
Company." Today, Ernestine may seem like a relic from the days of Ma
Bell's monopoly. But if some Wi-Fi companies have their way, they soon
won't care either because they won't have to.

Not all cities are facing difficulties in their municipal Wi-Fi
projects-dozens of cities around the country are moving forward with
similar partnerships. For details of WiMax logon to : www.knowingabout.com/wimax.
But even if these ventures are financially viable, are they good for
the marketplace?

That's worth asking because in recent years broadband has spread
across America at a rapid pace. A recent Pew Internet & American Life
Project study found that DSL rates have dropped by 15 percent in the
last two years, while the consultancy JupiterResearch estimates that
falling broadband prices will result in 80 percent of the country
logging on at high speeds by 2010. In a little less than a decade,
we've gone from the dominance of dial-up to deep market penetration by
cable and DSL carriers, with wireless, cellular, satellite, and even
broadband over power line joining the mix. Does a market as rich,
varied, and competitive as this really need municipal Wi-Fi?

More competition is generally a good thing for the marketplace. But
that doesn't necessarily apply to hybrid public-private partnerships,
since these arrangements tend to take on the anti-competitive traits
of government without the dynamism of business. The result can be a
poison pill for the connectivity marketplace.

Companies that enter into public-private partnerships enjoy favorable
treatment. Special access to city or county rights of way, shelter
from liability, and the backing of a public partner with the power to
tax makes Wi-Fi firms that enter into municipal deals formidable foes.
Potential competitors may find these advantages too much to overcome,
thus driving them out of the marketplace.For details of WiMax logon
to: www.knowingabout.com/wimax. With potential competitive rivals
driven out, we are soon left with an ossifying public utility
disguised as a private enterprise.

As municipal Wi-Fi companies become entrenched, we can expect them to
not only demand that cities be anchor tenants, but that they help make
up for the shortfalls that will inevitably result when new
technologies supplant Wi-Fi. Worse, seeking to put off that day of
reckoning, they may well ask for regulations stacking the deck in
their favor, slowing the spread of the latest and greatest tech.

Limited access rules and special privileges are what brought us
Ernestine in the first place. Technological solutions have opened up
markets to more players recently, but government can truly open the
competition floodgates by liberalizing markets, which would help lower
prices and bring broadband to the masses. It's time to stop playing
favorites and give Ernestine the pink slip.

Cord Blomquist is a technology policy analyst at the Competitive
Enterprise Institute.
Source : www.knowingabout.com/wifi

Knowing About <adil.saeed@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:1187696613.276379.194690@w3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

> Does a market as rich,
> varied, and competitive as this really need municipal Wi-Fi?
>

Yes, because all telecom companies act like assholes to every customer.

So, unable to get service, the PUBLIC decided to do it for them....(c;

Back before and after WW2, electric companies wanted to service big
cities but not small towns and rural areas. So, the government formed
the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) to build out electrical
systems in rural areas and small towns. Later, these government-
owned/operated companies were spun off into consumer-owned electric
cooperatives that are still providing rural America with electrical power
today.

Small cities, unable to attract the big corporations, took matters into
their own hands and built their own, city-owned, electric companies. As
an example, let's look at Orangeburg, SC.
http://www.orangeburg.sc.us/
Big electric wasn't interested, so Orangeburg wired their whole county
with a city-owned electric company, The Department Of Public Utilities:
http://www.orbgdpu.com/
DPU provides water, electricity, sewer, natural gas to all its citizens
at VERY attractive rates!
http://www.orbgdpu.com/rates.htm
Net Monthly Rate
Supply Charge:
Current small general service supply charge will be applied to this rate
schedule.
Distribution Charge:
First 500 kWh @ $0.02430 per kWh
All in excess of 500 kWh @ $0.01670 per kWh
Service Charge:
$6.00 per meter per month.
Can you buy electricity from your big electric corporation AT YOUR HOME
for 2.4c/KWH? How about 1.7c/KWH over 500 KWH?
Having an electric bill that doesn't have 24 add-on taxes and other bogus
company cramming takes a little getting used to. The "small general
service supply charge" is currently ZERO and is used to offset emergency
wholesale electric charges from the grid in time of trouble. So, you pay
$6, up front plus .0243/KWH for the first 500 KWH then the rate DROPS to
..0167/KWH for even more power! THAT'S IT! Public utilties don't pay
sales tax, city tax, tax tax because it IS the city!

For comparison, I live in Charleston, service by SCANA's South Carolina
Electric and Gouge. Electric rates are, on my home:
Basic Facilities - $7.50....not $6
..09003/KWH for the first 800 KWH
..09817/KWY for over 800 KWH....MORE FOR MORE USE...NOT LESS!

My foggy math says the city-owned electricity company is selling power
for 27% of what I'm paying from the big electric corporation! I wish I
could live in Orangeburg's city-owned electric area! My parents lived
there for 30 years...electricity was CHEAP and GREAT! Not being the
usual bohemoth, give-a-****-about-you corporation, and answering to the
city politicians the people have some small control over....service is
FRIENDLY and FAST!

So, what would happen if the CITY were to take over WiMax? Same
idea....consumers, the voters, would have some control of the rates
charged....unless, of course, the voters decided to provide it for free
to themselves as a benefit of paying city taxes...(c; Big corporate
profits and give-a-****-about-you service wouldn't rear its ugly head to
ripoff the customers...like you and me. Prices would be near wholesale
for the NON PROFIT CITY WIMAX COMPANY.

And you want me to think that is bad for me?

BULL****!! Pay one electric bill in Orangeburg and stand there and say
that again! City Owned utilities have a long history of providing really
cheap water, sewer, power, gas, and now broadband!

Duhhh......sorry hack....doesn't wash!

Larry
--
SCANA-screwed in Charleston.....