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> Giving $14 billion in small discounts to people with good existing services should not be happening while so many people have no service at all. I don't thin

> Giving $14 billion in small discounts to people with good existing services should not be happening while so many people have no service at all. I don't think the answer to "some people don't have access to broadband internet", should be "more people won't have access to broadband internet".

goodSteveramos 3y ago
I agree. Thats why I didn't propose that. This is just another way the urban poor are unfairly advantaged over the rural poor. These subsidies only apply if you have existing service in your area.
- manuelabeledo 3y ago
  > This is just another way the urban poor are unfairly advantaged over the rural poor. I think the point here is that the urban poor cannot afford it already. This is not a zero sum game. Providing for some doesn't take it from others.
  - goodSteveramos 3y ago
    Agreed. The issue is that for the past few years ONLY urban people have been receiving assistance.
    - manuelabeledo 3y ago
      But that's not true either. Rural communities disproportionately receive more federal funds, than urban ones, e.g. 60% of the Universal Service Fund budget goes to high-cost, rural areas [0] On a personal note, living in Texas has also given me a new perspective on rural subsidies, especially on education and civil engineering. I pay taxes through the nose, only for them to be recaptured by the state and invested further away. And more recently, my phone bill increased dramatically, precisely to replenish the USF, which should guarantee 4G/5G wireless access in more remote areas. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Service_Fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Service_Fund
- jjeaff 3y ago
  So much money gets funneled to rural areas. Billions have been spent on rural broadband but it is slow to spread. I am from a very rural area, we were 30 minutes from the nearest store except for a small gas station 10 minutes away. 2+ hours from the nearest airport (although minutes in several directions from tax funded municipal airports, which is a whole other can of worms of subsidies for wealthy rural citizens), and just last year, a lot of locals got symmetric fiber to the curb, several miles down a dirt road with a few hundred people living on it. Annoyingly, my family still doesn't have it because they don't live near other houses, even though the stinking fiber branch runs across our land. But I digress. So much money flows to the rural poor, in different ways than the urban poor, but we are still living in a world that for centuries was built in a way to advantage white people. And the rural poor are mostly white. While the urban poor are mostly brown.

goodSteveramos 3y ago

I agree. Thats why I didn't propose that. This is just another way the urban poor are unfairly advantaged over the rural poor. These subsidies only apply if you have existing service in your area.

manuelabeledo 3y ago
> This is just another way the urban poor are unfairly advantaged over the rural poor. I think the point here is that the urban poor cannot afford it already. This is not a zero sum game. Providing for some doesn't take it from others.
- goodSteveramos 3y ago
  Agreed. The issue is that for the past few years ONLY urban people have been receiving assistance.
  - manuelabeledo 3y ago
    But that's not true either. Rural communities disproportionately receive more federal funds, than urban ones, e.g. 60% of the Universal Service Fund budget goes to high-cost, rural areas [0] On a personal note, living in Texas has also given me a new perspective on rural subsidies, especially on education and civil engineering. I pay taxes through the nose, only for them to be recaptured by the state and invested further away. And more recently, my phone bill increased dramatically, precisely to replenish the USF, which should guarantee 4G/5G wireless access in more remote areas. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Service_Fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Service_Fund
jjeaff 3y ago
So much money gets funneled to rural areas. Billions have been spent on rural broadband but it is slow to spread. I am from a very rural area, we were 30 minutes from the nearest store except for a small gas station 10 minutes away. 2+ hours from the nearest airport (although minutes in several directions from tax funded municipal airports, which is a whole other can of worms of subsidies for wealthy rural citizens), and just last year, a lot of locals got symmetric fiber to the curb, several miles down a dirt road with a few hundred people living on it. Annoyingly, my family still doesn't have it because they don't live near other houses, even though the stinking fiber branch runs across our land. But I digress. So much money flows to the rural poor, in different ways than the urban poor, but we are still living in a world that for centuries was built in a way to advantage white people. And the rural poor are mostly white. While the urban poor are mostly brown.