Broadband for Hicks: That’s us. Michael Katz, a former FCC economist, bemoans the wasting of federal stimulus dollars on the effort to extend the series of tubes to mentally challenged hillbillies. “The notion that we should be helping people who live in rural areas avoid the costs that they impose on society … is misguided,” he says. Good fun, somewhat reminiscent of Mencken’s “The
This article appears in Mending Broken Hearts.
Excellent. So, in order to avoid subsidizing the costs imposed on society by urban dwellers, we here in the food producing rural areas have just decided to increase the cost of the food we grow…..by $7.2 billion.
It would be interesting to know whether this Katz fellow was a Bush appointee and/or acolyte, because otherwise, he would seem to be forgetting that –to this day– there’s a surcharge on people’s phone bills covering the costs involved with "Universal Access", which is to say, making sure that good old twisted-pair copper runs out into the deepest sticks.
That program, of course, was put in place by the "liberal" LBJ.
I guess folks like Katz think Universal Access to the telephone is OK because it allows the banks to call and hassle rural dwellers that have fallen behind on their bills.
That’s what universal access must mean to them: Universal access by big business to commoditized consumers.
unfortunately the plan to “expand” broadband in HumCo is to build redundant infrastructure (ie another line) that provides better/consistent service to those already getting it. ie the city folk.
Unanonymous, I noticed the same thing. I hear the outrage over Katz’s sneer at rural people but I’ll bet that were I to propose that broadband be offered up here in the mountains a similar argument to his would be proffered to me.
I pay $50 per month for 1 Giga per week. That means no downloading youtube, no news vids, no updates for my computer (all things those in Eureka take for granted) until after 10 when I can download all I want but since I get up at 5:30 to get my husband off to work, I basically don’t download music, movies, more importantly, news, etc.
I do care that Eureka and surrounds get better service. I wish they cared about me and my fellow hill folk.
Kym, what do you have? 101Netlink?
same here. must be on that fine satellite service that turns into slower than dial up if you download "too much".
Katz has problems, he lies to generate support for his anti-everyone but me agenda. You should hear the bs he spewed about Mackay tract and Green Diamond.
starband