Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg last week told the San Francisco Chronicle that city plans to build networks could be one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever heard.
But backers of municipal networks are fighting hard against such claims, reports Telephony Magazine. They are winning the support of a high-tech community worried that Asia and now much of Western Europe is pulling ahead of the U.S. with better broadband penetration, quality and cost.
We’re a joke compared to Europe and most of Asia, said economist John Rutledge, the author of last summer’s U.S. Chamber of Commerce report on the need for telecom regulatory reform. In the U.S., most people think of broadband as a cable modem that’s like turtle mail in Japan and Korea, where broadband services typically run at 20 Mb/s and higher at costs similar to what U.S. consumers pay for 3 Mb/s service, he added.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles WiFi Cloud Committee Report (pdf) included academics as well as incumbent telco and cable company representatives.
Executive SummaryVISION:
We envision the City of Los Angeles as a place where everyone who works, lives or visits here enjoys convenient and affordable broadband access to the Internet. We want Los Angeles to be a broadband city both in reality and in global reputation.We think that the experience of increasingly mobile, high speed, personalized communication will help make the City a great place to live, work and enjoy the excitement of urban life. Most importantly, we believe the ability for everyone to communicate easily and quickly is vital to the City s aspiration to serve as a great forum of open and free democratic discussion and creative expression.
In developing our report, the members of the panel agreed on several core values that guided our deliberations and recommendations:
Affordability. High speed communication services need to be available at prices competitive with other cities and regions in the U.S. not just to help close the Digital Divide within the City, but to avoid any negative impact on the decision to locate in Los Angeles or even in one area of the City vs. another by individuals, non-profits or businesses.
Convenience. Access to high speed networks should be available to all City residents, businesses and visitors in ways and at locations that encourage their use and enhance the experience of living in a modern, connected metropolis.
Technological Neutrality. The rapid changes in communication technologies that will occur over the next five years requires that the City not attempt to lock in on any one technological solution nor attempt to award preferred status to any particular solution for fast and easy access to the Net.
“One of the best ways for a city the size of Los Angeles to achieve our goal”, says the report, “is to work with institutions in the private sector that share our vision and want to work in partnership with the City to achieve it”.
Sponsored by the Wireless Internet Institute, the convention promises to provide three days of brainstorming, analysis and consensus-building among representatives of wireless and mesh networking providers and the city, state and international representatives interested in implementing their solutions.
| State | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Colorado | Amended version much less onerous |
| Florida | Compromise reached |
| Illinois | Died in committee |
| Indiana | Died in committee |
| Iowa | Some restrictions lifted, still pending |
| Louisiana | Pending |
| Michigan | Pending |
| Nebraska | Five measures pending |
| Ohio | Session ended, no action |
| Oregon | No action |
| Texas | Amended version less restrictive, still pending |
| Virginia | Died in committee |
| West Virginia | Died in committee |
| Source: The Ballet-Herbst Law Group | |
Business 2.0 looked at Broadband Boomtowns in the Northeast, Southeast, Mid West and West.
WiFi Planet has the latest Hot Spot Hits. MuniWireless covers city clouds while Civitium keeps score on municipal broadband legislation. See DailyWireless; GigE to the Home - Wireless Next? and DailyWireless Testifies for Muni Broadband.
