If you really believe that: poor people in N. Phila. have laptops and will be able to utilize this... Phila. largest employer and largest taxpayer, Comcast, should be shut out of this..... that govt. provided services are actually "free" that Phila. will actually be able to operate this efficiently and profitably... that people ans corporations who pay taxes have some responsibility to provide servies to those who dont't..
then I don't think I can really say anything else worthwhile on this subject. Respectfully , Jim > -----Original Message----- > From: Dana Spiegel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 12:15 AM > To: Jim Henry > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Pennsylvania legislature gets suckered(?) > > > ... > > inaccurate and that other commercial providers besides Verizon, like > > Comcast,Yipes, etc, will also be allowed to offer wireless service, > > but it's > > no arena for a government entity unless all providers > refuse to do it. > ... > > These type of blanket statements are made completely without basis. > Now, there may be plenty of reasons why a specific gov't run wifi > network is a bad idea, but this is not one of them. > > For as many poorly run municipality run utilities there are just as > many well run ones, especially in the telecom arena. Municipalities > aren't the only way to go. They could just as easily establish a > Collective to run it, as many local ISPs were (at least in the early > days, and some still are). Also, just because one arm of the local > government is poorly run (Gas service) doesn't mean that a completely > separate and independent arm won't be run well and in the public > interest. Look at our own NYC city government. There are plenty of > services that are terribly mismanaged, and plenty more that are > efficiently run. > > There's also the expectation that this should be a money > maker for the > city, which is a very bad assumption to make. Depending on how it is > set up, it may turn out to be profitable, but such services shouldn't > be expected to be cash flow positive, especially at the start. The > primary goal should be to provide service, especially to underserved > areas, at a reasonable cost. Only then should they be thinking about > making money on the service. > > Dana Spiegel > Director, NYCwireless > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.nycwireless.net > > On Nov 23, 2004, at 7:59 PM, Jim Henry wrote: > > > Philly already owns its own gas works. It's been terribly > mismanaged > > over > > the years and is a money loser rather than money maker for > the city. > > They've > > got no track record to start an effort like this. I hope > this report is > > inaccurate and that other commercial providers besides Verizon, like > > Comcast,Yipes, etc, will also be allowed to offer wireless service, > > but it's > > no arena for a government entity unless all providers > refuse to do it. > > Jim > > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of Dustin > >> Goodwin > >> Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 12:21 AM > >> To: Rob Kelley > >> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Pennsylvania legislature gets > suckered(?) > >> > >> > >> Verizon and the other carriers have been blocking municipal telecom > >> infrastructure build out for years. This is nothing new. > >> > >> - Dustin - > >> > >> Rob Kelley wrote: > >> > >>> Some said making all downtown Philly wireless was too > ambitious (not > >>> me), but now according to muniwireless.com the Pennsylvania > >> legislature > >>> has passed a law that prohibits its and gives the whole game > >> to players > >>> like Verizon: > >>> > >>> As Harold Feld puts it: "It looks like a public subsidy to build > >>> infrastructure, but, thanks to the statute, THE ONLY PLACE > >> YOU CAN BUY > >>> IT FROM IS VERIZON!" > >>> > >>> It's on the governor's desk, awaiting his signature: > >>> > >>> http://www.muniwireless.com/archives/000509.html > >>> > >>> Rob > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> __________________________________ > >>> Do you Yahoo!? > >>> Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! > >>> http://my.yahoo.com > >>> > >>> > >>> -- > >>> NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ > >>> Un/Subscribe: > > http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ > >> Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ > >> > >> > > > > -- > > NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ > > Un/Subscribe: > > http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ > > Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ > > > > --- > > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > > Version: 6.0.799 / Virus Database: 543 - Release Date: 11/19/2004 > > > > --- > > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > > Version: 6.0.799 / Virus Database: 543 - Release Date: 11/19/2004 > > > > > > -- > > NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ > > Un/Subscribe: > > http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ > > Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ > > > --- > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.799 / Virus Database: 543 - Release Date: 11/19/2004 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. 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