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Community WiFi

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I’m going to be writing more on this topic in the future, but for now, here are several reports that deal with arguments in favor of municipally owned WiFi networks. You can read up if you want and debate it here.

So far, only one proposal has surfaced to ban municipalities from starting their own networks. Sen. Steve Rauschenberger says locals shouldn’t be trusted with the projects.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 19, 05 @ 6:44 am

Comments

oh I see

trust us with streets and sewers and police and fire and parks but this tech thing, where somebody might make money, give it away…

gee thanks Steve…hey shave that silly-looking goatee off

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 19, 05 @ 9:06 am
Well, actually neither political party has a corner on hypocrisy in dealing with Broadband issues.

I (as a Republican) won’t vote for Steve in any election simply over his stand on this issue, but let’s not forget who was the lead player carrying the water for SBC in Illinois over the last few years.

Bill Daley, by any chance….
Downright smart choice by SBC….

Btw, the reason they’re (the big telco’s) are pushing so hard on this is the soon-to-be-mainstream 802.16 broadband (WiMax), which when setup with new antennas, will allow for far, far superior coverage of high speed wireless internet over a substantially far greater area.

Here’s a useful link to understanding this technology:
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3412391

A line from the article:
“Unlike WiFi, WiMAX’s range is typically measured in miles rather than feet.“

If I were Stevie, I’d be asking the really hard questions - like why do BOTH SBC & Verizon want to hold us back in the Internet dark ages so badly?

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 19, 05 @ 5:25 pm
Banning municipal broadband remains a top priority for the SBC and Verizon phone monopolies. God forbid anyone dare to compete with their overpriced, crappy DSL service!

Rauschenberger wants to run for Governor? Perhaps he didn’t get the memo about not whoring for monopolists and hurting consumers when preparing to run for statewide office.

Unless, ofcourse, SBC and Verizon promised the Good Senator gobs of campaign cash to fuel his primary campaign. I guess only time and contribution disclosures will tell!

Comment by Flat Stanley Tuesday, Apr 19, 05 @ 9:11 pm
I don’t like this Rauschnberger guy - what happened to the age-old Repubican dedication to local control?

If a municipality wants to publicly fund high-speed Internet for its residents - shouldn’t that be their choice? This guy is a Republican? Wow.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 19, 05 @ 9:14 pm