A turf battle is brewing over on how American's will get to choose their broadband access, as homegrown efforts to provide citizens with affordable and fast internet are drawing heavy fire (http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/02/battling-sock-puppets.html) from a powerful telecom lobby seeking to eliminate all competition and control prices in the lucrative market for providers. Now they've bought their way into influential Washington think tanks and State Houses in an effort to push through new legislation that squashes all local efforts to provide broadband users with an cheaper alternative.
I'm writing today to tell you about the things you can do now to join the Community Internet movement and stake your claim to your own broadband.
Stake your Claim to Affordable Broadband
A growing number of American cities and towns are implementing municipal wireless networks that provide cheap and fast internet access to their residents. These municipal and locally-funded projects pose a threat to industry fiefdoms because they offer citizens an alternative to commercial ISP's costly (http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuo...mtfh95676_2005-02-04_23-00-22_n0424864_newsml) and often incomplete services. Moreover, they're easy to implement and administer.
Still, these homegrown efforts to link up citizens may be on the losing side of a battle against industry.
Major telecoms -- eager to dominate the multi-billion-dollar (http://www.forbes.com/businesswire/feeds/businesswire/2005/02/10/businesswire20050210005641r1.html) ISP market -- have begun to stake out territory wherever municipal broadband had begun to take root. Verizon, in particular, has been aggressive in snubbing such civic WiFi efforts wherever they emerge. Other large commercial telecom services such as Comcast, Qwest and SBC -- whose tentacles reach well into the pockets of legislators in all 50 states -- are arguing that municipalities have no business serving as ISP's, that such initiatives are against citizens' best economic interests, and that telcos should be granted the first right to refuse municipal WiFi projects that overlap where their commercial services are available. They seek to frame community wireless projects as "costly mistakes" (http://informationweek.mobilepipeline.com/60300027) that are an affront to the American ideal of free enterprise.
Don't believe a word of it.
St. Cloud, Florida built its own municipal broadband wireless network after doing a favorable initial cost assessment. They found that the per resident internet access cost using commercial providers was $450 per year. The average St Cloud residential annual property tax bill was $300. By the city providing this one service to its residents the average household savings is 50 percent more than the average tax bill for all city services. Further the $3 - $4 million per year that is leaving the city to flow to corporate headquarters all over the country stays in the local economy. Municipal broadband services could benefit you and your community in the same way.
Fight the 'Sock Puppets'
Now a collection of "coin-operated" think tanks have taken up their master's call to produce biased research that can be used to preempt grassroots Internet initiatives. A quick check of the money behind these nominally independent research groups reveals them to be industry "sock puppets," tasked with a clear mandate to serve those who foot the bill.
The dubious New Millennium Research Council (NMRC) has released a study that seeks to discredit all homegrown networks in favor of the major telecom providers (http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=36357). The NMRC is "an independent project" of Issue Dynamics, Inc. a consulting firm, which fronts for several large telecom clients.
The Cato Institute is expected soon to release its own report attacking municipal wireless. Cato, receives money from Verizon Communications, Time Warner, Inc, SBC Communications, Comcast Corporation and Freedom Communications -- all companies seeking to put a stake through the heart of homegrown broadband systems. http://www.cato.org/sponsors/sponsors.html
As a result of this well funded campaign to stamp out local innovation and widen the moat around the industry's existing services, America has fallen to the back of the pack of developed nations in providing broadband to their citizens. If industry gains a controlling hand in this battle, we will continue to lag behind more consumer friendly nations in Asia and Western Europe in offering access to the full array of online options. http://www.itudaily.com/new/home.asp?articleid=4090901
Here's what you can do to help.
Media for Democracy members are mobilizing now in partnership with several public advocacy groups in support of community internet projects. Please take a moment to learn more by visiting the following Media for Democracy coalition partners and signing on to their community internet campaigns. Here are five things to do today:
Learn more about Community Internet at Free Press and join their Action Center to participate in future advocacy on this issue.
Read the Consumers Union's guide to getting involved to protect affordable access to broadband. http://freepress.net/communityinternet/
Stay on top of the community wireless movement by visiting MuniWireless.com and subscribing to their weekly newsletter. http://www.hearusnow.org/index.php?id=442 http://www.muniwireless.com/reports/
See a community wireless network in action. Sascha Meinrath helped build the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN) using the same "WiFi" equipment available off-the-shelf for homes and offices, but he and his colleagues put it on rooftops to connect neighbors over several square miles. http://www.cuwireless.net/
Find out more about others who are building municipal wireless networks in your neighborhood:
http://www.freenetworks.org/
Thanks for standing up for a better media.
I'm writing today to tell you about the things you can do now to join the Community Internet movement and stake your claim to your own broadband.
Stake your Claim to Affordable Broadband
A growing number of American cities and towns are implementing municipal wireless networks that provide cheap and fast internet access to their residents. These municipal and locally-funded projects pose a threat to industry fiefdoms because they offer citizens an alternative to commercial ISP's costly (http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuo...mtfh95676_2005-02-04_23-00-22_n0424864_newsml) and often incomplete services. Moreover, they're easy to implement and administer.
Still, these homegrown efforts to link up citizens may be on the losing side of a battle against industry.
Major telecoms -- eager to dominate the multi-billion-dollar (http://www.forbes.com/businesswire/feeds/businesswire/2005/02/10/businesswire20050210005641r1.html) ISP market -- have begun to stake out territory wherever municipal broadband had begun to take root. Verizon, in particular, has been aggressive in snubbing such civic WiFi efforts wherever they emerge. Other large commercial telecom services such as Comcast, Qwest and SBC -- whose tentacles reach well into the pockets of legislators in all 50 states -- are arguing that municipalities have no business serving as ISP's, that such initiatives are against citizens' best economic interests, and that telcos should be granted the first right to refuse municipal WiFi projects that overlap where their commercial services are available. They seek to frame community wireless projects as "costly mistakes" (http://informationweek.mobilepipeline.com/60300027) that are an affront to the American ideal of free enterprise.
Don't believe a word of it.
St. Cloud, Florida built its own municipal broadband wireless network after doing a favorable initial cost assessment. They found that the per resident internet access cost using commercial providers was $450 per year. The average St Cloud residential annual property tax bill was $300. By the city providing this one service to its residents the average household savings is 50 percent more than the average tax bill for all city services. Further the $3 - $4 million per year that is leaving the city to flow to corporate headquarters all over the country stays in the local economy. Municipal broadband services could benefit you and your community in the same way.
Fight the 'Sock Puppets'
Now a collection of "coin-operated" think tanks have taken up their master's call to produce biased research that can be used to preempt grassroots Internet initiatives. A quick check of the money behind these nominally independent research groups reveals them to be industry "sock puppets," tasked with a clear mandate to serve those who foot the bill.
The dubious New Millennium Research Council (NMRC) has released a study that seeks to discredit all homegrown networks in favor of the major telecom providers (http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=36357). The NMRC is "an independent project" of Issue Dynamics, Inc. a consulting firm, which fronts for several large telecom clients.
The Cato Institute is expected soon to release its own report attacking municipal wireless. Cato, receives money from Verizon Communications, Time Warner, Inc, SBC Communications, Comcast Corporation and Freedom Communications -- all companies seeking to put a stake through the heart of homegrown broadband systems. http://www.cato.org/sponsors/sponsors.html
As a result of this well funded campaign to stamp out local innovation and widen the moat around the industry's existing services, America has fallen to the back of the pack of developed nations in providing broadband to their citizens. If industry gains a controlling hand in this battle, we will continue to lag behind more consumer friendly nations in Asia and Western Europe in offering access to the full array of online options. http://www.itudaily.com/new/home.asp?articleid=4090901
Here's what you can do to help.
Media for Democracy members are mobilizing now in partnership with several public advocacy groups in support of community internet projects. Please take a moment to learn more by visiting the following Media for Democracy coalition partners and signing on to their community internet campaigns. Here are five things to do today:
Learn more about Community Internet at Free Press and join their Action Center to participate in future advocacy on this issue.
Read the Consumers Union's guide to getting involved to protect affordable access to broadband. http://freepress.net/communityinternet/
Stay on top of the community wireless movement by visiting MuniWireless.com and subscribing to their weekly newsletter. http://www.hearusnow.org/index.php?id=442 http://www.muniwireless.com/reports/
See a community wireless network in action. Sascha Meinrath helped build the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN) using the same "WiFi" equipment available off-the-shelf for homes and offices, but he and his colleagues put it on rooftops to connect neighbors over several square miles. http://www.cuwireless.net/
Find out more about others who are building municipal wireless networks in your neighborhood:
http://www.freenetworks.org/
Thanks for standing up for a better media.