3 ms·
It's really hard for me to believe that a company with a billion dollars couldn't buy their way to favorable laws. Everyone else does it.
by kevingadd 8y ago
It's really hard for me to believe that a company with a billion dollars couldn't buy their way to favorable laws. Everyone else does it.
- dnicjwbfic82 8y agoThe fact that this is even a thing makes me sick. The american political system is royaly f'ed up.
- rayiner 8y agoGoogle negotiated extremely favorable terms with Fiber cities, much more favorable than the terms the incumbents received: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/time-warner-att-want-kansas-city-to-give-them-google-fiber-style-deal https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/time-warner-att-.... > As we’ve reported on in the past, Kansas City has rolled out the digital red carpet for Google: giving rights of way, prime office space, expedited permitting, fee waivers, and more. In a notable example, the city charged only $10 per pole for Google to string its cable on municipal utility poles—as opposed to the usual $18.95 per pole rate. But now, local incumbents Time Warner Cable and AT&T want to feel the love, too. It wouldn’t be fair to accuse Google if “buying” anything—it’s modus operandi was to approach second tier cities in low-cost states that would see fiber as a differentiating factor to help boost their economy. (That’s why they refused to deal with Boston, SF, or NYC.) Then Google gave them extremely aggressive terms, such as waiver of build-out requirements (the obligation to serve the whole city, even unprofitable areas) that are otherwise universal in such deals. And Google still couldn’t make the numbers work!