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View Full Version : Bush says a chicken in very pot and broadband for every comp


EZ_Xanthium Bladesong
03-28-04, 01:40 PM
except for the chicken part...

Quote:Bush calls for universal broadband by 2007
President calls for more choices for consumer, but doesn't say how

Gerald Herbert / AP
President Bush gave no details of how he would extend broadband access to all U.S. homes and businesses in his speech to Hispanic lawmakers Friday in Albuquerque.
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 5:00 p.m. ET March 26, 2004ALBUQUERQUE - Reaching back to revive an idea promoted by the man he beat for the White House, President Bush urged Friday that affordable high-speed Internet access be available to all Americans by 2007, saying it was essential to the nation’s economic growth.

Bush traveled to the Southwest largely to promote home ownership but spoke briefly about Internet access in remarks reminiscent of 2000 Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore’s call for an “information superhighway” available to all Americans.

The president did not say how high-speed access could be extended to all the nation’s homes and businesses, but in an address to Hispanic lawmakers in New Mexico, a state he lost to Gore by just 366 votes four years ago, Bush said a key would be to “make sure that as soon as possible thereafter [that] consumers have plenty of choices.”

There is already a fund that subsidizes telephone service in rural areas and for those who cannot afford it. Policymakers have debated whether the Universal Service Fund should also subsidize Internet access to U.S. homes.

Democrats, including Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Bush’s presumed Democratic opponent in November, accused Bush in a letter last month of failing to implement a “national broadband policy.” About 20.6 million homes and small businesses subscribed to high-speed Internet service as of last June, the latest data available from the Federal Communications Commission.

Telephone companies that dominate a market have to share their networks with rivals for telephone service, and there have been extensive debates about whether those rules should apply to broadband.

Cable companies do not presently have to share their networks with rivals but some allow subscribers to have an alternative Internet service provider. More consumers have signed up for the broadband from cable companies, with about 13.7 million lines compared to 7.7 million using telephone companies’ digital subscriber line (DSL) service. I'm going straight to hell, just like my momma said.

EZ_Dahne
03-28-04, 03:56 PM
I think there's a chicken in my computer.

notwen
03-28-04, 05:42 PM
I know I wouldn't have my computer any other way.

EZ_Filan Fyretracker
03-28-04, 07:47 PM
only thing keeping broadband from every home is 1) people not wanted it or 2) the communications companies being too lazy to deploy it in all areas.

Earth Destroyed by Solarflare. Video at Eleven
Theres something on theWing....

Meddik
03-28-04, 08:28 PM
Well, Its not so much a question of Lazy, as it is being Costly.

Its always been the "Last mile" problem. Once you get the pipe out to a neighborhood, its ridiculously expensive to run wire throughout the neighborhood, and to each house, as the amount of labor an materials is MUCH greater to make 300 connections from house to house, as compared to making a connection to one big pipe point at the edge of the neighborhood.

With technologies such as WIMax around the corner (Basically, similar to Wifi broadband with up to a 30 mile range) That last mile problem could be solved very soon. It would be much cheaper to place multiple transmitters, and avoid the expense of running cable all over the place.

While I'd love to see broadband more available in rural areas more than just about anyone, I'm just praying that Bush doesn't propose yet another government boondoggle program to do it. The lack of any comments about competition in his speech are more than a bit ominous, at least to a free market conservative such as myself.

I think private industry is more than willing to do this, once technology gets to a point where it is economically feasible. Hell, if they could do that with wireless, they could expand broadband coverage exponentially faster than they currently are, and at much cheaper rates than currently. Plus, there would be a lot more competition among companies than there currently is. Most people I know who have broadband locally have only 1 choice for a provider, and at most two choices. But reduce the overhead for such a service, and you would see a lot more competition, and consequently lower prices and increased availability.

Yalum
03-29-04, 12:20 AM
After the shakeup a couple years ago, it'll be at least a decade before the VCs are willing to risk more money on broadband. Free enterprise already tried and failed.

I still get my broadband from Covad and Speakeasy, but they're one of very few non-Bell/cable companies still in the market, and the FCC axe hangs over their head every day.

Meddik
03-29-04, 04:33 AM
Quote:Free enterprise already tried and failed.

??

From 4th quarter last Year.

Quote:US broadband population soars

Broadband suppliers in the US have enjoyed their most successful quarter ever, with another 2 million households signing up for high-speed Internet

Cable and digital subscriber line providers reported their most fruitful quarter ever, adding more than 2 million subscribers to their high-speed Internet services.

During the quarter ended 30 September, cable companies accounted for 64 percent of the overall US residential broadband market, while DSL garnered the remaining 36 percent, according to market researcher Leichtman Research. DSL added 800,000 subscribers, or 39 percent of new broadband customers, while new cable subscribers made up the remaining 61 percent.

More failures like this, please. Trojan Horseshoes
Need Help coming up with arguments against mine?

Yalum
03-29-04, 05:54 AM
Almost all of the broadband users are baby Bell or cable companies. Government sponsored monopolies are the exact opposite of free enterprise.

Darkefang
03-29-04, 06:24 AM
Quote:With technologies such as WIMax around the corner (Basically, similar to Wifi broadband with up to a 30 mile range) That last mile problem could be solved very soon. It would be much cheaper to place multiple transmitters, and avoid the expense of running cable all over the place.

At least until people decide the transmitters are an eyesore or some crackpot starts telling people that the transmitters cause cancer.