4 ms·

Seattle had a municipal broadband program, but, unsurprisingly, was uncompetitive. I think the water and electricity utility inefficiency is more state issues

by coryrc 6y ago

Seattle had a municipal broadband program, but, unsurprisingly, was uncompetitive. I think the water and electricity utility inefficiency is more state issues than city. The money is being spent on fish rights, tribal obligations, getting the last 1% of sewage spill (when the counties across the sound have broken septic flowing constantly) etc. These are hitting the other dam owners too. You can see some budget breakdown here: http://openbudget.seattle.gov/#!/year/2020/operating/0/service/Utilities+%2526+Transportation/0/department http://openbudget.seattle.gov/#!/year/2020/operating/0/servi...

coryrc 6y ago
Oh, don't forget the billions spent on that last bit of sewage while allowing open defecation in parks and on roadways.
- neolog 6y ago
  "Allowing" is the wrong word. It's more like requiring, since there aren't any public toilets.
  - redis_mlc 6y ago
    Starbucks is the national public toilet infrastructure, as admitted by their Executive Chairman, Howard Schultz: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/11/610337214/starbucks-will-give-people-the-key-to-restroom-regardless-of-purchase-ceo-says https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/11/610337214... :)
pseudalopex 6y ago
Where can I read about Seattle's municipal broadband program? The city only mentions a fiber network for city agencies, lots of studies, and corporate initiatives.[1] [1] http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/studies-and-history http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/studies-an...
- nostromo 6y ago
  https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2014/01/seattles-fiber-deal-with-gigabit.html https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2014/01/s... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabit_Seattle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabit_Seattle
  - pseudalopex 6y ago
    Looks like a corporate initiative. Puget Sound Business Journal said the city would have owned the network but the company said not.[1] And the company and the city both said the city wouldn't invest money.[1][2] So probably the PSBJ writer misunderstood the dark fiber lease. And did it ever launch? It would be strange to call it uncompetitive when the real problem was it never existed because the company couldn't raise funding. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20130215072656/http://gigabitseattle.com/faqs/technical-faqs/#faq-165 https://web.archive.org/web/20130215072656/http://gigabitsea... [2] http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/studies-and-history http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/studies-an...

by coryrc 6y ago

coryrc 6y ago

Oh, don't forget the billions spent on that last bit of sewage while allowing open defecation in parks and on roadways.

neolog 6y ago
"Allowing" is the wrong word. It's more like requiring, since there aren't any public toilets.
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  Starbucks is the national public toilet infrastructure, as admitted by their Executive Chairman, Howard Schultz: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/11/610337214/starbucks-will-give-people-the-key-to-restroom-regardless-of-purchase-ceo-says https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/11/610337214... :)

pseudalopex 6y ago

Where can I read about Seattle's municipal broadband program? The city only mentions a fiber network for city agencies, lots of studies, and corporate initiatives.[1] [1] http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/studies-and-history http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/studies-an...

nostromo 6y ago
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2014/01/seattles-fiber-deal-with-gigabit.html https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2014/01/s... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabit_Seattle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabit_Seattle
- pseudalopex 6y ago
  Looks like a corporate initiative. Puget Sound Business Journal said the city would have owned the network but the company said not.[1] And the company and the city both said the city wouldn't invest money.[1][2] So probably the PSBJ writer misunderstood the dark fiber lease. And did it ever launch? It would be strange to call it uncompetitive when the real problem was it never existed because the company couldn't raise funding. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20130215072656/http://gigabitseattle.com/faqs/technical-faqs/#faq-165 https://web.archive.org/web/20130215072656/http://gigabitsea... [2] http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/studies-and-history http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/studies-an...