4 ms·

I argue going one step further, even at the loss of some theoretical efficiency. Split layer 1 from layer 3. I want a fiber pair from my house to the central

• toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Having helped shepherd municipal broadband initiatives along, I'm sorry to say that your requirements are a hill too far for almost all consumers. They don't care about the level of provider selection you want, they simply want The Internet (Netflix, Youtube, Google Gmail, et al) at the lowest possible cost (and reliable to boot). > many networks will likely be built out and then left to languish long-term if there is no competitive pressure. Municipal broadband is accountable to its local citizens or stakeholders, depending on the model used to develop it (government owned or non-profit owned). If it languishes, it will only do so because its citizens or users allow it to. EDIT: If you're in an area where there are only large corporate internet providers, please take up the cause for municipal or co-op broadband! https://muninetworks.org/ https://muninetworks.org/
  • rayiner 9y ago
    > Municipal broadband is accountable to its local citizens or stakeholders, depending on the model used to develop it (government owned or non-profit owned). If it languishes, it will only do so because its citizens or users allow it to. I don't find this comforting. Citizens regularly allow public services to languish, through a combination of a myopic focus on cutting costs/taxes and lack of accountability. When I lived in Wilmington, Delaware, bus drivers would straight up quit 20 minutes early, putting up their "out of service sign" and skipping their last several stops. I drive all the way into work even though there is an Orange-line Metro stop 20 minutes from my house and 5 minutes from my office. The scheduled 36-minute trip is almost never under 40 minutes, and during commuting times approaches 50 minutes. That's without unexpected delays. One of the things the environmental law clinic at Northwestern does is identify municipal water/sewer systems that are not in compliance with the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. There are many such systems, and invariably they remain out of compliance because citizens are unwilling to raise water/sewer rates to fix the infrastructure.
    • toomuchtodo 9y ago
      As someone who has worked in the telcom regulation space, what would your suggestion be? I find my options more palatable than a duopoly (if you're lucky!) that exists to squeeze consumers for as many dollars as possible. It all boils down to accountability and the tools at your disposal to enforce that accountability. Unless the FCC is going to turn the screws on major internet providers (unlikely under the current administration), local governance is one of the few options left available. > One of the things the environmental law clinic at Northwestern does is identify municipal water/sewer systems that are not in compliance with the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. There are many such systems, and invariably they remain out of compliance because citizens are unwilling to raise water/sewer rates to fix the infrastructure. I agree this is a problem that takes a lot of effort on the part of elected officials to be honest with citizens about why money must be spent to maintain infrastructure, while ensuring that collected tax revenue is spent in a transparent and effective manner. Letting infrastructure go is simply robbing from the future; the bills come due eventually.
• mindslight 9y ago
  > Split layer 1 from layer 3. I want a fiber pair from my house to the central office, where I can then patch to any provider who decided to pay the cost-recovery based co-location connection fee. Basically I should be able to tell this wireline provider to plug my patch cord into service provider X and they do it within a reasonable timeframe. I pay this provider for the wire itself. > I then get provider #2 and subscribe to their IP services. Hopefully there would be enough competition (e.g. dozens) here to not have to regulate further. This is exactly how DSL worked, with ILECs being forced to sell wire access to CLECs. Many places were still not served by a CLEC. The answer for keeping things competitive and modern is probably both. The physical infrastructure companies should provide dark fiber, which will be demanded if there is high enough population density to independently invest in the gear to light or even for individual businesses with special requirements. They should also provide aggregation through their own edge switches, so that less-dense places can experience provider-competition at regional meet-me centers.