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Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

majoritywhip.gov

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Re: Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

#11

Post by degenerate »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #2

> providing a $50 monthly discount on plans for low-income consumers This only serves to support the inflated pricing of the monopolists.

Yep, this solves nothing. The ISPs will continue lining the politicians' pockets and we will keep over-paying for it. I wish Google fiber hadn't hit so many road blocks and took off nationally - it would have set a higher bar for quality vs price. I'm lucky enough to have a decent month-to-month internet plan under $40 with 200mbps, but I realize the majority of America is still being stiffed hard by Comcast/AT&T/CenturyLink/Cox/Verizon, especially households in rural areas.

Re: Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

#12

Post by thechao »

m0zg wrote: post #5

Austere scholars of pork wrote a bill to pacify their corporate sponsors. The entire SpaceX's Starlink will cost a fraction of that. Now watch this $100B disappear without a trace, as usual.

I really hope Starlink will have a turnkey small-community ISP “solution”.

Re: Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

#13

Post by jdhawk »

thomaslord wrote: post #10
manigandham wrote: post #6

We already paid for nationwide broadband installation several times by now. How many more funds do we need to siphon to major corporations that still don’t build anything?

I definitely think we shouldn't give another dime in tax credits to broadband providers - a signed contract with aggressive enforcement provisions would be in order, and if the current major ISPs don't want to build the infrastructure we should find someone else who will.

vote for people who don't take funds from them. Its almost impossible.

Re: Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

#14

Post by lotsofpulp »

darwinwhy wrote: post #7
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #2

> providing a $50 monthly discount on plans for low-income consumers This only serves to support the inflated pricing of the monopolists.

Like it or not, certain parts of the US are too rural/poor to justify even monopolists expanding internet service there. This will incentivize them to build in those areas.

Why doesn’t the government just build it? They do it with sewer lines, power lines, gas lines, water lines, but a little fiber is too much?

Re: Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

#16

Post by nordsieck »

thechao wrote: post #12
m0zg wrote: post #5

Austere scholars of pork wrote a bill to pacify their corporate sponsors. The entire SpaceX's Starlink will cost a fraction of that. Now watch this $100B disappear without a trace, as usual.

I really hope Starlink will have a turnkey small-community ISP “solution”.

> I really hope Starlink will have a turnkey small-community ISP “solution”.

I mean, an ISP could get a receiver and use Starlink as backhaul, but IMO, that just doesn't make much sense. The cost of infrastructure is almost certainly more than the cost of a receiver per consumer.

Re: Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

#17

Post by pm90 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #14
darwinwhy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like it or not, certain parts of the US are too rural/poor to justify even monopolists expanding internet service there. This will incentivize them to build in those areas.

Why doesn’t the government just build it? They do it with sewer lines, power lines, gas lines, water lines, but a little fiber is too much?

The Government does not build those.

Re: Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

#18

Post by falcolas »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #14
darwinwhy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like it or not, certain parts of the US are too rural/poor to justify even monopolists expanding internet service there. This will incentivize them to build in those areas.

Why doesn’t the government just build it? They do it with sewer lines, power lines, gas lines, water lines, but a little fiber is too much?

Because the ISP corporations have sued the government (successfully) when it's attempted.

And 'successfully' includes a completed lawsuit and/or dragging out the proceedings so long that it costs the taxpayers too much to continue.

Re: Dems pitch $100B broadband plan

#19

Post by briandear »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #14
darwinwhy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like it or not, certain parts of the US are too rural/poor to justify even monopolists expanding internet service there. This will incentivize them to build in those areas.

Why doesn’t the government just build it? They do it with sewer lines, power lines, gas lines, water lines, but a little fiber is too much?

With few exceptions, the government doesn’t build or operate power lines in the US.
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