[1st-mile-nm] Brookings on COVID & broadband

[Doug Orr]

The Brookings people, bless their hearts, are some weird form of
professional optimists. Broadband is like running water, yes. Everyone
acknowledges it. (It's not, but let's just say...)

And, somehow, nothing changes. Because the glory days when we piped water
for public good are over. Forty years of declaring government is bad,
public is bad, selfishness is good, private is the only right answer... has
taken its toll.

We are left with Agit Pai's smiling face and a bunch of neoliberal
platitudes that somehow result in no innovation and higher prices, despite
promising the opposite. (I watched him and the crown castle guy lying their
asses off in a VC just two days ago, it was disgusting.)

Brookings makes me sad.

But, sure, if people working at home for a while can change broadband I'm
all for it.

Pots-n-pans had a good column two days ago about the FCC's dire mission
failure. We need bitter revolutionary anger, not covid cheer.

  Doug


On Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 6:09 PM Christopher Mitchell <christopher at ilsr.org>
wrote:

> Look, I think we can all agree that the FCC has to ensure that public
> dollars only go to the highest caliber companies that will ensure we get
> the best value for our public expenditures. That is why they create so many
> hurdles for small companies that have great local track records and
> basically grease the rails for companies that would never, ever, ever,
> ever, ever, ever, ever take billions of dollars and then declare bankruptcy
> while probably not meeting the most basic of requirements in the programs
> that they cashed the checks from.
>
> More seriously, I do actually think the RDOF plan has some merit and I
> think that waiting to get more data on locations would only spread the
> subsidies thinner and delay getting money out to rural providers. This is a
> dramatic improvement over CAF II's shoveling of billions to AT&T et al. I
> think Congress should focus on making more money available as better
> mapping reveals where it should go.
>
> Christopher Mitchell
> Director, Community Broadband Networks
> Institute for Local Self-Reliance
>
> MuniNetworks.org <http://www.muninetworks.org/>
> @communitynets
> 612-545-5185
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 8:02 PM Mimbres Communications <mimcom at sw-ei.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Good overview, yes.
>>
>> I fear for the 'fixes' that will likely come from RUS & FCC in the form
>> of more handouts to big telecoms.  The structuring of these programs,
>> including the rushed deployment of $20B in RDOF money before the 477 and
>> mapping fixes were even partially complete, effectively forecloses
>> participation by small providers.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 6:42 PM David Breecker [dba] <
>> david at breeckerassociates.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Good thought piece from Brookings, echoing an idea I’m seeing a lot; any
>>> ideas on how rural areas and NM can figure out how to leverage this trend?
>>>
>>> I expect we’ll look back on COVID-19 as a wake-up call that broadband
>>> isn’t a luxury—it’s an essential utility.
>>>
>>> As policymakers respond to that call, they will aim to fill network gaps
>>> through public investment or tighter regulation (as in the electricity
>>> sector), and through a new suite of programs to boost subscriptions and
>>> distribute devices. We’re already seeing this happen, from internet service
>>> providers offering discounts
>>> <https://www.digitalinclusion.org/free-low-cost-internet-plans/> to
>>> school districts passing out computers and wireless hotspots
>>> <https://www.axios.com/hotspots-wifi-students-coronavirus-1a08db65-236b-43e8-a5e0-17429a07942a.html>
>>> .
>>>
>>> We can bootstrap interventions for now, but broadband only grows more
>>> important as society and the economy continue to digitize. My guess is
>>> we’re about to see a great wave of broadband policies—and it can’t come
>>> soon enough.
>>>
>>> https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-covid-19-will-change-the-nations-long-term-economic-trends-brookings-metro/?utm_campaign=Metropolitan%20Policy%20Program&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86407569
>>>
>>> David Breecker,
>>> President
>>>
>>>
>>> *David Breecker Associates*
>>> *www.breeckerassociates.com <http://www.breeckerassociates.com>*
>>>
>>> Santa Fe Office: 505-690-2335
>>> Abiquiu Office:   505-685-4891
>>> Skype:  dbreecker
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Kurt Albershardt  |  Mimbres Communications, LLC  |  575-342-0042
>>
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