Sascha,
Although I agree with you, Bell South's actions do not condone the action of
the city.
New Orleans could easilly instead announce a grant offer or loan program for
small business ISPs, to rebuild New Orlean's communications systems.
They could understand the problem with having only a monopoly providing most
of the services. And they could fix that problem from the start, empowering
the vast amount of talent the industry has to offer, to accellerate the
launch of a network. Instead they get their network designed by a
Manufacturer. The mayor should be helping the peiople rebuild their homes
and neighborhoods, and let the communication companies do their own thing.
How about giving the grant money to New Orlean local businesses? It may add
one or two more local jobs.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sascha Meinrath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <wireless@wispa.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 2:14 PM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] BellSouth rescinds N.O. donation
Hi all,
> Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 10:33:00 -0600
> From: "Joe Laura" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: [WISPA] BellSouth rescinds N.O. donation
> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org>
>
> And with bell having to rebuild their whole infrastructure here in New
> Orleans its a bigger slap in the face IMO. The hotel owners are pretty
> upset
> with this as well. Ya, the City has really ruffled some feathers over
> this
> move.
Regardless of whether or not the City of New Orleans government needs a
spanking ;) -- I have a fairly different take on this matter, one less
focused on the specifics of the New Orleans/BellSouth fiasco and more
oriented toward BellSouth's general business strategy. BellSouth is
clearly attempting to leverage it's market dominance in one area (wireline
communications) to prevent competition in a different realm (in this case,
wireless networking). This is exactly the type of dynamic that anti-trust
laws were intended to keep in check.
BellSouth's actions in New Orleans are just the most recent manifestation
of a strategy that _will_ be utilized against folks like us (e.g.,
independent ISPs). BellSouth has systematically attempted to prevent any
sort of competition within their service areas -- their New Orleans
tantrum is only the latest example. I wrote up a brief piece about some
of their most recent actions here:
http://www.saschameinrath.com/2005dec04bellsouths_shame
I'm sure there are numerous ways in which the City of New Orleans needs
reforming -- but BellSouth's actions are targeted against any and all
competitive entities -- they will certainly focus on WISPA members down
the road. Instead of blaming New Orleans for what is obviously a
widespread business strategy, I'd recommend focusing on BellSouth, who
clearly isn't interested in "playing well with others" and has a
well-documented history of using its market power to bully others.
--Sascha
--
Sascha Meinrath
Policy Analyst * Project Coordinator * President
Free Press *** CUWiN *** Acorn Active Media
www.freepress.net * www.cuwireless.net * www.acornactivemedia.com
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