I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happened that changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford, Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time I never used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full of trees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could not afford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined the "Digital Divide". My attitude toward USDA grants was "They should stay out of this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me". I shot for the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gear available at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for all residents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everything the USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadband conventions and told others how to apply for grants.
Then a miracle happened. My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It was the nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over 60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technology center at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, the village hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Bluford was doing great. Still, this had not really changed my thinking that Uncle Sam should keep out of the broadband business. One child did change my mind. An 8 year old boy in Bluford got leukemia shortly after we setup the new broadband there. Dad and son, alone, faced the dark days ahead. These people were poor folks facing the horrors of cancer. Despite all this adversity and gloom the boy had only one major mental obstacle which really cut to the core for him. He could not face the prospects of having to be held back a year of school. You see, he was forced into isolation from killing off his immune system as a consequence of the bone marrow being destroyed and replaced. He desparately wanted to finish school with his class. The schoool called me and asked if we could help with the broadband grant program we had won. We did. We bought a pan-tilt-zoom camera and set it up on a roll around cart along with a speakerphone in his classroom. We installed broadband in his home for free using 900 MHz radios to bust through the trees. The boy attended classes virtually through this system. He beat his cancer. He also finished his year with his fellow students. How much is this worth? It seems to me that this particular broadband application is much like the "Priceless" description we see in those VISA commercials. But let's try to put a dollar amount on it. Is it worth $310K to be able to do this? Is it possible that this one boy's hope alone is worth $310K and the fact that the whole town now has broadband is a bonus? Maybe it is ok to let our leaders lead for a change. I have seen many bad things come from bad government in my 43 years on this earth. I have been fortunate enough to see some good things too. Until recently I thought cynicism was going to rule the day forever in regard to government. I thought patrotism was dead. I thought the American Dream had faded and spoiled into a nightmare. Sadly the government has done much to amplify those feelings. Regardless of your politics you have to be worried. Maybe it is ok to have hope too. Maybe we should try for once to say that we will take our leader's lead and try to stimulate our economy through broadband deployment. I am willing to give it a shot. Maybe this will not work but maybe it will. What if success or failure of this program is more dependent on how we make use of this program than whether or not the program is right or wrong? This is possibly the most unique opportunity of our lives. The government is basically telling us they want us to save the country. They are opening up the bank and saying to us, "What would you do to make broadband a stimulating force to aid this country's economy if money was not a barrier to your success?" I am going to have to step up and be part of the solution. I hope all of you do the same. John Scrivner President - Mt. Vernon. Net, Inc. Trweasurer - WISPA On Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 11:16 PM, <rea...@muddyfrogwater.us> wrote: > Not me. If it's wrong, it's wrong. I'm not going to say "it should not > be > done" and then go after the money for myself. I'd have to hide my face > forever. Money comes and goes. Conscience is forever. > > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > <insert witty tagline here> > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Marlon K. Schafer" <o...@odessaoffice.com> > To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> > Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 10:11 PM > Subject: Re: [WISPA] What does this mean to wisps? > > > > Me? I'm gonna go for as much grant money as I can get. What else can we > > do? > > > > marlon > > > >> > >> Well, whatcha gonna do? > >> > >> > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
