7 ms·
Why doesn't the government have a few planes or blimps fly overhead with base stations from the major mobile carriers?
by foobarqux 2y ago
Why doesn't the government have a few planes or blimps fly overhead with base stations from the major mobile carriers?
- option 2y agobecause the government somehow lost its ability to execute any meaningful project especially under time constraints
- svnt 2y agoIt is weird what happens when you privatize so much and then find out too late it isn’t profitable for companies to have fleets of emergency internet blimps primed and ready to go 24/7.
- catlikesshrimp 2y agoThe only mobile provider in Costa Rica was government owned, hugely profitable, subsidized internet and landlines, and was mandated to provide internet to every single citizen. In urban areas, they had to make sure every single house had mobile coverage. And courts made them comply. Then came the US around year 2002 and forced the country to a free market, and paradise was lost. Everything is US level now (more expensive, better service is even more expensive, nothing is guaranteed, you get bombarded by advertisements, and other spam types) and the company can no longer provide universal coverage and is now operating at a loss.
- breakingrules3 2y ago[flagged]
- chgs 2y agoThere’s a reason the US has the largest economy in the world. It’s modern colonialism.
- FredPret 2y agoOh yeah. All of the 25 000 000 000 000 dollars the US generates a year is vacuumed right out of the palm trees of the third world.
- chgs 2y agoIt relies almost entirely on the massive US might, military, cultural, diplomatic.
- FredPret 2y agoThe US is kicking butt because it has 330 million people, most with a very high human development index (HDI), all together in one country with an extremely effective and pro-business culture. All the rest flows out of this.
- hollerith 2y agoI marvel at how confused some people are to actually believe that Americans are rich because they steal wealth from other peoples. Amazing! The US does meddle a lot with other countries, but the main motive IMHO is usually either to further some misguided ideological program or to keep Americans safe (kind of like how Russia's interference in Ukraine these days is motivated by a desire to keep Russians safe in future decades) not to extract wealth.
- FredPret 2y agoThe poor world simply does not have enough wealth / resources / GDP to “supply” the rich world, especially the US, with its ridiculous levels of wealth so that argument falls flat right out the gate. US meddling is, as you say, a function of them already having a ton of money and trying to use it to pursue their foreign policy.
- aguaviva 2y ago(kind of like how Russia's interference in Ukraine these days is motivated by a desire to keep Russians safe in future decades) Well, that's the motivation it pretends/claims to have in any case. But you're right in that its pretenses/delusions are very similar to the US's in this regard.
- pkaye 2y agoDid Costa Rica get an IMF loan around that time?
- catlikesshrimp 2y agoBack then, Costa Rica was nothing like other American countries, a single loan wasn't a very effective lever. This was the lever: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic%E2%80%93Central_America_Free_Trade_Agreement https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic%E2%80%93C...
- internetblimp 2y agohttps://www.domusweb.it/en/sustainable-cities/gallery/2023/11/14/the-gigantic-founder-of-google-sergey-brin-new-generation-travel.html https://www.domusweb.it/en/sustainable-cities/gallery/2023/1... funny cause sergey is building exactly that - private companies for the win :)
- svnt 2y agoSo someone who doesn’t need to make money is building blimps to revolutionize air transport and you are proposing that company is going to then halt business during storms and travel to and float over hurricane recovery areas?
- internetblimp 2y agoyep exactly. he has stated (as the article does) that delivering humanitarian aid to disaster areas is one of the main goals
- svnt 2y agoI can see either a philanthropic/vanity project or (maybe? very optimistically?) a profitable business, but not both. Areas in need of humanitarian aid provided by airships is a too-small niche to (re-)develop entirely new flight technology. Geeks like blimps, and they need a story, that is all that is.
- internetblimp 2y agoalso read their 1 sentence mission statement ltaresearch.com
- Spooky23 2y agoMore like because people ignorant of issues find it easier to chirp about why everyone is stupid. The government has agreements in place with all of the carriers to reestablish cellular communications. The first phases are around emergency communications for first responders and recovery. The next priority is restoring power to light up recoverable infrastructure. There a plan, and the people coordinating this stuff are good at what they are doing. That doesn’t mean your uncle will be back watching Netflix - the priority is restoring basic services so that you get closer to normal quickly.
- mezeek 2y agounless, you know, it's about blowing stuff up
- duxup 2y ago>a few planes or blimps If we use the map from the starlink page I feel like it would be a lot more than "a few" and I'm not really sure you'd get the places that "need" it desperately. https://api.starlink.com/public-files/HurricaneHeleneCoverage.png https://api.starlink.com/public-files/HurricaneHeleneCoverag...
- patmorgan23 2y agoResurrect Google project Loon
- inferiorhuman 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratovision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratovision
- rdl 2y agoDefinitely a lot of value in a drone/balloon/etc. fleet to 1) restore communications using satellite + mesh 2) overhead imagery for direct support of rescue/recovery/rebuilding 3) supporting rescue (and later recovery) operations by finding phones and sending messages in broadcast, etc. Augments what can be done from satellites or manned aircraft already.
- halyconWays 2y agoThat sounds expensive and like it'd help Americans
- frugalmail 2y agoYou're probably right, they would gate it on having an ITIN or something.
- renewiltord 2y agoIf the government started this project tomorrow I would stall it in the courts until they could prove that they did the necessary environmental reviews. Besides, privacy is a big concern and we can’t have the government use the opportunity to become Big Brother as the sole Internet provider for so many people. We must protect freedom. Sometimes that costs the lives of children and sometimes that of adults. But freedom is important.
- nynx 2y agoEnvironmental review for blimps?
- lupusreal 2y agoWhat if it crashed on a squirrel?
- vel0city 2y agoWhat goes up must come down no?
- pkaeding 2y agoOf course! The shadow from the blimp might impact the habitat of an endangered newt living in the now-wetland. I mean, it might not, but you won't know until the environmental impact assessment is complete.
- ivewonyoung 2y agoThe govt is sending satellites: > an additional 140 satellites are being shipped to assist with communications infrastructure restoration. From: Biden-Harris Administration Continues Whole-Of-Government Response to Hurricane Helene https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20240930/biden-harris-administration-continues-whole-government-response-hurricane https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20240930/biden-harris-adm...
- 1970-01-01 2y agoFEMA has no budget for it
- astroid 2y agoWhat did they spend this years budget on specifically? I think the majority of this country views them as the go to for "Emergency Management" at the federal level. Are they using their money on other things that are not related?
- threeseed 2y agoThe recent spending bill did not include additional funding for the Disaster Relief Fund. https://www.newsweek.com/johnson-house-passes-spending-bill-government-shutdown-election-1959474 https://www.newsweek.com/johnson-house-passes-spending-bill-...
- astroid 2y agoI appreciate the insight, this prompted me to poke around the FEMA site and see how transparent they are - to my shock, they actually did a good job of presenting the cost breakdowns and where the money goes. This kind of surprised me though: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/shelter-services-program/fy24-awards https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/shelter-services-pr... I knew that the government was paying big money to buy up hotels and other migrant shelters, but had no idea $640 Million was spent out of FEMA's budget on this year alone. This will surely turn into a powerful right wing talking point if the word gets out to that side of the media.. (assuming it hasn't already) I'm not going to lie though, given the current situation and in hindsight how poorly Maui and East Palestine, OH were handled I think it's probably reasonable to ask whether this is what we want/expect from our Emergency Management services. It seems at first glance like they are creating the emergency via deliberately imported avoidable costs, then short changing the tax payers when they are most likely to need their help in a genuine life or death situation. It feels like this money should be coming out of the ICE budget or some other agency, but I'm just a proletariat. The relevant bit: "For Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will provide $640.9 million of available funds to enable non-federal entities to off-set allowable costs incurred for services associated with noncitizen migrant arrivals in their communities. The funding will be distributed through two opportunities, $300 million through SSP – Allocated (SSP-A) and $340.9 million through SSP – Competitive (SSP-C)." I haven't even gotten to the other areas where they almost certainly had a similar level of waste, but I suspect over half a billion could be mighty useful right now. EDIT: Looks like once you know the magic number the news talking about it is easy to find, and it's not just right wing media highlighting this issue: https://www.newsweek.com/fema-migrant-funding-hurricane-disaster-relief-1963336 https://www.newsweek.com/fema-migrant-funding-hurricane-disa... If this doesn't stir the pot, I don't know what will. No matter what happens, people are going to be irrationally (or I guess maybe rationally to an extent) angry.
- seadan83 2y agoMountains. Lots and lots of mountains. Second, better to just plop a generator next to the existing infrastructure. The cell towers were recently "unlocked" and are serving any carrier. Third, where are you going to base the blimps? They are not known for speed, even if you truck them in and inflate them. Part tovthis, why spend money on blimps when you can buy rescue helicopters and supply trucks instead? Comms is important, but short of the value of water rescue and food. Four, what happens if the post hurricane weather is not favorable? Didn't hurricane Harvey last most of a week?