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> This is simply not true. How so? (eg https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3805?s=1&r=8 https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-

> This is simply not true. How so? (eg https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3805?s=1&r=8 https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3805..., there are lots of bills over the last decade, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, etc) Unless you can go through each individual bill that was mandated to build infratructure, the history indicates that the OP statemnt is true. The money was pocketed and it wasn't done. Business as usual with govt contracts.

rayiner 6y ago
The claim that "we already paid for nationwide broadband installations several times now" is not true. The bill you linked to, for example, just says that the Secretary of Transportation "shall require States to evaluate the need for broadband conduit in accordance with this section as part of any covered highway construction project." It doesn't even appropriate any money. The ARRA appropriate a small amount of money for rural broadband, about $2.5 billion, much of which was never even spent: https://www.benton.org/blog/questioning-federal-broadband-spending https://www.benton.org/blog/questioning-federal-broadband-sp.... That was 10 years ago. Then the Connect America Fund spent less than $10 billion over the last decade. These are the only major federal programs I'm aware of that spent any significant amount of money on broadband. Over that same decade, private companies invested over $70 billion per year: https://morningconsult.com/opinions/reversal-of-fortune-broadband-investment-on-the-wrong-track https://morningconsult.com/opinions/reversal-of-fortune-broa.... I don't have a recent breakdown, but in the 2007-2008 timeframe, it was $40 billion+ per year for wireline, and $20 billion+ for wireless: http://cpham.perso.univ-pau.fr/ENSEIGNEMENT/PAU-UPPA/RHD/PAPER/OLD/CarrierCapital.pdf http://cpham.perso.univ-pau.fr/ENSEIGNEMENT/PAU-UPPA/RHD/PAP.... It might well be the reverse today, with most of the investment in wireless, but you're still talking $20-30 billion+ per year in wireline. So over the past decade, it's maybe $10-15 billion in government funding, targeted at a few rural areas, compared with hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment. Whether or not the government money has been properly used is a fair discussion, but a separate one. It's just a tiny fraction of what you need to build and maintain a nationwide broadband network, which is what OP was talking about.
- Supermancho 6y ago
  I disagree with your initial statement. You are saying no specific bill was introduced to ensure this condition, which is a different stance. > It doesn't even appropriate any money. So what? The entirety of the bill might be a good reference...like an appropriate number of broadband conduits are installed along such highway to accommodate multiple broadband providers, > Whether or not the government money has been properly used is a fair discussion, but a separate one. That is the core of the discussion. Reread the thread.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - Supermancho 6y ago
    > We already paid for nationwide broadband installation several times by now. If this isn't a reference to how the money has been spent, I'm not sure what you think is being argued. The downvotes are wrongheaded.

rayiner 6y ago

The claim that "we already paid for nationwide broadband installations several times now" is not true. The bill you linked to, for example, just says that the Secretary of Transportation "shall require States to evaluate the need for broadband conduit in accordance with this section as part of any covered highway construction project." It doesn't even appropriate any money. The ARRA appropriate a small amount of money for rural broadband, about $2.5 billion, much of which was never even spent: https://www.benton.org/blog/questioning-federal-broadband-spending https://www.benton.org/blog/questioning-federal-broadband-sp.... That was 10 years ago. Then the Connect America Fund spent less than $10 billion over the last decade. These are the only major federal programs I'm aware of that spent any significant amount of money on broadband. Over that same decade, private companies invested over $70 billion per year: https://morningconsult.com/opinions/reversal-of-fortune-broadband-investment-on-the-wrong-track https://morningconsult.com/opinions/reversal-of-fortune-broa.... I don't have a recent breakdown, but in the 2007-2008 timeframe, it was $40 billion+ per year for wireline, and $20 billion+ for wireless: http://cpham.perso.univ-pau.fr/ENSEIGNEMENT/PAU-UPPA/RHD/PAPER/OLD/CarrierCapital.pdf http://cpham.perso.univ-pau.fr/ENSEIGNEMENT/PAU-UPPA/RHD/PAP.... It might well be the reverse today, with most of the investment in wireless, but you're still talking $20-30 billion+ per year in wireline. So over the past decade, it's maybe $10-15 billion in government funding, targeted at a few rural areas, compared with hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment. Whether or not the government money has been properly used is a fair discussion, but a separate one. It's just a tiny fraction of what you need to build and maintain a nationwide broadband network, which is what OP was talking about.

Supermancho 6y ago
I disagree with your initial statement. You are saying no specific bill was introduced to ensure this condition, which is a different stance. > It doesn't even appropriate any money. So what? The entirety of the bill might be a good reference...like an appropriate number of broadband conduits are installed along such highway to accommodate multiple broadband providers, > Whether or not the government money has been properly used is a fair discussion, but a separate one. That is the core of the discussion. Reread the thread.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- Supermancho 6y ago
  > We already paid for nationwide broadband installation several times by now. If this isn't a reference to how the money has been spent, I'm not sure what you think is being argued. The downvotes are wrongheaded.