Obama to push for faster internet (1 Viewer)

[gianmarco]

I don't think we have enough threads indicating what Obama is pushing for, so here we go:

Obama for faster internet

In advance of next week’s State of the Union address, no one can accuse President Obama of pushing a stale agenda lacking new ideas.
In a YouTube video released by the White House on Tuesday, President Obama speaks to the importance of fast broadband Internet service, and announces his intention to make it accessible to more Americans as a means by which to strengthen the U.S. economy. “One of the things that I’m going to make an early announcement about this week,” Obama says in the video, “is the issue of getting faster broadband.”

For many Americans, I imagine the idea that the White House, or even the federal government in general, can improve your Internet access may seem a little fanciful.

But it’s not. There are meaningful steps the Obama administration can take in this area that could make a real difference.

Timothy B. Lee had a helpful report on the bigger picture yesterday, noting that the typical American household has a download speed of 10 to 20 megabits per second (Mbps), but some communities have speeds that are up to 100 times faster than that.
ome of these networks were built not by big telecom providers but by municipal governments or publicly-owned electrical utility companies. For example, the city of Chattanooga, TN, has a publicly utility that decided to get into the municipal broadband business in 2007. As a result, households there can now get 1 gigabit (1,000 Mbps) service for just $70 per month.

Municipal broadband supporters view Cedar Falls, where Obama is visiting [Wednesday], as another success story. There too, the local public utility company built a municipal broadband network that provides speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second. Gigabit service is expensive – $135 per month – but you can also get download speeds of 100 Mbps for $70 per month.

Most U.S. consumers don’t know this, because we have no points of comparison, but in many of the world’s largest cities, these higher download speeds are already the norm. Americans may have invented the Internet, but Americans also have some of the slowest online access.

If communities like Chattanooga and Cedar Falls have had success with extremely fast broadband, why haven’t other municipalities developed their own networks? The main issue is that in much of the country, there are state laws prohibiting cities from taking such steps. Obama wants the FCC to use federal authority to override those state statutes, and the White House also hopes to provide federal resources to help municipalities get started.

A few caveats are in order. For one thing, some cities have tried this route and run into trouble. Indeed, in recent years we’ve seen Burlington, Vermont, and Provo, Utah, both try to set up municipal broadband and ultimately abandon failed projects.

For that matter, fast broadband doesn’t always have to come from the public sector. As the Vox report noted, some telecommunications companies – including Comcast, msnbc’s parent company – have already made strides in this area, while companies like Google have built one gigabit fiber optic network and are in the process of expanding.

What’s more, Obama may be excited about improving consumers’ online speeds, but his political rivals are not.
President Barack Obama is delving more deeply into broadband issues as he tries to put his stamp on the nation’s Internet policy – setting up more conflict with congressional Republicans and telecom giants that dominate the industry. […]

Republicans have previously registered their dismay with the idea of FCC acting on community broadband networks. During an appropriations battle last year, all but four of the House’s Republican members voted to block the agency from pre-empting state laws.

For Republican lawmakers, the issue is largely ideological – the public sector is necessarily bad, especially when it competes with the private sector.

That said, one gets the distinct impression that the president, who sees faster Internet speeds as an important economic issue, doesn’t much care about Republican opposition. Expect this issue to get a fair amount of attention in next week’s national address.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

 

[Jack White]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

About damn time.

 

[Das Boot]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

I'd be OK with it.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

We need the monopolies/government to give it back to us.

As it is the lobbyist will only allow one high-speed cable internet provider in a given area.

 

[Jack White]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

We need the monopolies/government to give it back to us.

As it is the lobbyist will only allow one high-speed cable internet provider in a given area.

Congrats on your 16,000th post.

 

[GoFishTN]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

The cable companies sure aren't going to do it.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

We need the monopolies/government to give it back to us.

As it is the lobbyist will only allow one high-speed cable internet provider in a given area.

Congrats on your 16,000th post.

Ty, but the real number is 22,348 + whatever I had on my original 4digit account I lost from inactivity about 6or7 years ago.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

The cable companies sure aren't going to do it.

Exactly, something JW doesn't fully comprehend. Comcast and Verizon are now working together on internet/TV/Cell packages, we are months not years away from one cable TV/internet source.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

The cable companies sure aren't going to do it.

Exactly, something JW doesn't fully comprehend. Comcast and Verizon are now working together on internet/TV/Cell packages, we are months not years away from one cable TV/internet source.

Cable/internet is the most corrupt, uncapitalist, non-consumer friendly nonsense industry. I don't even want to start thinking about it. It just pisses me off.

 

[MaxThreshold]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

The cable companies sure aren't going to do it.

Exactly, something JW doesn't fully comprehend. Comcast and Verizon are now working together on internet/TV/Cell packages, we are months not years away from one cable TV/internet source.

Cable/internet is the most corrupt, uncapitalist, non-consumer friendly nonsense industry. I don't even want to start thinking about it. It just pisses me off.

YEAH!

 

[Mister CIA]

Sign me up for #### the providers. Internet access should be thought of no differently than Interstate Highway access.

Capitalism's towering failure is trying to own the infrastructure. Render unto Caesar you greedy b######.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

The cable companies sure aren't going to do it.

Exactly, something JW doesn't fully comprehend. Comcast and Verizon are now working together on internet/TV/Cell packages, we are months not years away from one cable TV/internet source.

Cable/internet is the most corrupt, uncapitalist, non-consumer friendly nonsense industry. I don't even want to start thinking about it. It just pisses me off.

####in A right

Hate this ####, have to switch every two or three years to not get raped by these ####holes.

 

[sublimeone]

Could have done this 6 years ago... Now that he's a lame duck he has all these wonderful ideas... Thanks for nothing Obama

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The Kitchen Sink Presidency.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

The Kitchen Sink Presidency.

The stock market gains have added $1.1 trillion to American accounts during the Obama presidency. That's the whole kitchen IMO.

 

[Sand]

Sign me up for #### the providers. Internet access should be thought of no differently than Interstate Highway access.

Capitalism's towering failure is trying to own the infrastructure. Render unto Caesar you greedy b######.

If it becomes a utility the government gets to tax the #### out of it. Which, of course, they will.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Thanks Obama

 

[FUBAR]

Sign me up for #### the providers. Internet access should be thought of no differently than Interstate Highway access.

Capitalism's towering failure is trying to own the infrastructure. Render unto Caesar you greedy b######.

So you're cool with construction slowing things down every summer?

It's probably a cross between the highways, postal service and telephone.

IOW, no monopolies or brought to us by the government.

 

[snellman]

Wish he would just start with not allowing providers to put a cap on usage. Live in a small town with only one provider and while it is plenty fast, I am constantly going over the max with my plan and getting charged more because of all the streaming that goes on in my house.

 

[msommer]

Please explain why government should not be interested in basic infrastructure.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The Kitchen Sink Presidency.

The stock market gains have added $1.1 trillion to American accounts during the Obama presidency. That's the whole kitchen IMO.

Why yes I remember when he first ran, the stirring speeches on making Wall Street rich, growing our 401k's, how the rich could get richer, yes it was inspiring stuff back then...

Yes I'm very happy about my portfolio and also the price of gas. His approval rating is magically going higher now. If this is what the president is all about I'm all for it. I just wish he had so from the beginning, heck I wish he would say it now.

 

[HellToupee]

So what is the compensation for Comcast/Verizon for the lines?

 

[HellToupee]

Sign me up for #### the providers. Internet access should be thought of no differently than Interstate Highway access.

Capitalism's towering failure is trying to own the infrastructure. Render unto Caesar you greedy b######.

Who pays for the infrastructure? Why not electricity? Its a basic need

 

[njherdfan]

We don't need the King of the World to give us fast internet.

We need the monopolies/government to give it back to us.

As it is the lobbyist will only allow one high-speed cable internet provider in a given area.

Actually, municipal broadband issues and preemption is a much bigger issue, and something the FCC will address next month in its meeting. This is much more interesting stuff than Obama's largely theoretical statements that he would like faster internet.

 

[Boston]

I just hope we get to vilify and call Verizon/Comcast "Big Cable"...

 

[sublimeone]

The Kitchen Sink Presidency.

The stock market gains have added $1.1 trillion to American accounts during the Obama presidency. That's the whole kitchen IMO.

And he only grew the debt by $7 trillion. I'm not good at maths... Is that good or bad?

 

[jon_mx]

I want Obama to push that I have a lax enough of a job where I can play golf as much as he does.

 

[FUBAR]

I want Obama to push that I have a lax enough of a job where I can play golf as much as he does.

Blame his employers.

 

[The General]

The Kitchen Sink Presidency.

The stock market gains have added $1.1 trillion to American accounts during the Obama presidency. That's the whole kitchen IMO.

And he only grew the debt by $7 trillion. I'm not good at maths... Is that good or bad?

He followed the Reagan model.

 

[-jb-]

Really interesting, both on the surface and as you dive deep with it.

On the surface, it seems to come down to picking a poison. Do you want the Feds to interfere with state legislation, or do you want to say fongool to the heavily lobbying telcos?

The GOP will hide behind the first one, but in reality are trying to protect their reelection campaign. The Dems will do the opposite and see it as an opportunity to take a bigger piece.

So sad that we will spend wasteful weeks debating which vile to drink, when neither will solve the fundamental problem. F###ers.

 

[HellToupee]

I'm sure with Brian Roberts being a golf buddy with Obama everything will be on the up & up

 

[Homer J Simpson]

I want Obama to push that I have a lax enough of a job where I can play golf as much as he does.

You can't play golf once a week? Damn, you must be important.

 

[trogg78]

I want Obama to push that I have a lax enough of a job where I can play golf as much as he does.

You can't play golf once a week? Damn, you must be important.

Someone has to keep us honest.

 

[rockaction]

I'd always thought that it was state and local zoning laws and decisions at the state and local levels that created the monopolies. In other words, competing cable companies were prevented from laying cable and broadband infrastructure because of the constant disruption that it would create from a construction and physical angle. I think the compromise that was reached between constant property disruptions and competitive pricing was to grant the cable companies a monopoly and then regulate it.

It, of course, is a disaster for consumers.

I don't think I'm mistaken, am I?

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

Someday our children will look back at history and be puzzled that we actually had to pay for Internet.

 

[Brock Middlebrook]

The Kitchen Sink Presidency.

The stock market gains have added $1.1 trillion to American accounts during the Obama presidency. That's the whole kitchen IMO.

Why yes I remember when he first ran, the stirring speeches on making Wall Street rich, growing our 401k's, how the rich could get richer, yes it was inspiring stuff back then...

Yes I'm very happy about my portfolio and also the price of gas. His approval rating is magically going higher now. If this is what the president is all about I'm all for it. I just wish he had so from the beginning, heck I wish he would say it now.

Rich get richerPoor get poorer

The number of people out of work growing

Middle class vanishing

Deficit skyrocketing

Success!!!!

 

[Brock Middlebrook]

Doesn'

I'd always thought that it was state and local zoning laws and decisions at the state and local levels that created the monopolies. In other words, competing cable companies were prevented from laying cable and broadband infrastructure because of the constant disruption that it would create from a construction and physical angle. I think the compromise that was reached between constant property disruptions and competitive pricing was to grant the cable companies a monopoly and then regulate it.

It, of course, is a disaster for consumers.

I don't think I'm mistaken, am I?

You are correctWhich is why the president specifically mentioning Broadband is puzzling

Free wifi is where we should be going

Google is already spending 1 to 3 billion to get free wifi out to the world via satellite

 

[siffoin]

I want Obama to push that I have a lax enough of a job where I can play golf as much as he does.

Obama has played 208 rounds of golf since becoming President. Eisenhower played more than 800 rounds of golf while he was President. Played 194 days of golf in 1958 alone. Played so much golf at Augusta National they wound up building him a cabin there.

 

[GoFishTN]

So what is the compensation for Comcast/Verizon for the lines?

We don't revoke all the tax breaks and concessions they were already given for infrastructure upgrades they never bothered doing?

 

[HellToupee]

Someday our children will look back at history and be puzzled that we actually had to pay for Internet.

I'd like my electricity , home gas & wireless ph for free too

 

[FUBAR]

Really interesting, both on the surface and as you dive deep with it.

On the surface, it seems to come down to picking a poison. Do you want the Feds to interfere with state legislation, or do you want to say fongool to the heavily lobbying telcos?

The GOP will hide behind the first one, but in reality are trying to protect their reelection campaign. The Dems will do the opposite and see it as an opportunity to take a bigger piece.

So sad that we will spend wasteful weeks debating which vile to drink, when neither will solve the fundamental problem. F###ers.

this is clearly interstate commerce, don't think the argument for "the states should handle the internet" flies far.

 

[jonessed]

Someday our children will look back at history and be puzzled that we actually had to pay for Internet.

I'd like my electricity , home gas & wireless ph for free too

No cable, no peace.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

So what is the compensation for Comcast/Verizon for the lines?

We don't revoke all the tax breaks and concessions they were already given for infrastructure upgrades they never bothered doing?

This. A million times this.

I can just imagine a conversation in a Comcast business office.

Engineer: So boss, we'll need about $20 million to give everyone in this part of town the bandwidth we're advertising.

Boss: Or...OR we could invest $1 million to develop a fraction of that bandwidth and keep the other $19 million for ourselves, all while still getting all the sweet incentives we get for providing the bandwidth we promised but aren't going to deliver. It's not like everyone is going to be online at the same time anyway, so they'll only notice it at peak hours. And it's not like they have an alternative. We're going to be rich. Well...richer.

<a few years pass>

Engineer: Ok boss, file sizes have gone up, people are streaming media now, and there's that cloud thing. People are really noticing that they're not getting the bandwidth they were promised beyond just peak hours now. We're going to need at least some of that $20 million we originally needed to upgrade their infrastructure so we can deliver that bandwidth.

Boss: Nah that's not going to work. How do you expect me to keep making payments on my yacht, little guy? Instead, let's just put a cap on how much bandwidth they use every month. Then we can either throttle them down or charge them more money. That will keep those greedy bastards from trying to actually use the bandwidth they think they're getting.

<a few more years pass>

Engineer: Bossman, Netflix and streaming radio are super popular now. Everyone is using the cloud, people are downloading huge games and movies. We can't even come close to delivering the bandwidth people are paying for now. We're going to need to dip into that $20 million we were supposed to have 7 years ago.

Boss: Oh man, you're so naive. I've got this great idea. Since we've already punished the users for having the gall to actually try to use the bandwidth we're selling them, let's charge the websites money for creating a product that made our customers try and use their bandwidth. Then not only are we not spending money, but we're actually making even more money than before. My wife was just saying the other day that she wishes we had a second yacht for the kids.

 

[-jb-]

Really interesting, both on the surface and as you dive deep with it.

On the surface, it seems to come down to picking a poison. Do you want the Feds to interfere with state legislation, or do you want to say fongool to the heavily lobbying telcos?

The GOP will hide behind the first one, but in reality are trying to protect their reelection campaign. The Dems will do the opposite and see it as an opportunity to take a bigger piece.

So sad that we will spend wasteful weeks debating which vile to drink, when neither will solve the fundamental problem. F###ers.

this is clearly interstate commerce, don't think the argument for "the states should handle the internet" flies far.

Yesno. It's mostly about access to interstate commerce which is driven by the first mile of infrastructure.

 

[The General]

So when Obama mentions this in SotU both sides of the aisle will applaud right? Seems pretty much like saying you like kittens.

 

[jonessed]

So when Obama mentions this in SotU both sides of the aisle will applaud right? Seems pretty much like saying you like kittens.

I doubt Republicans will applaud the FCC taking power currently held by the states.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

So what is the compensation for Comcast/Verizon for the lines?

We don't revoke all the tax breaks and concessions they were already given for infrastructure upgrades they never bothered doing?

This. A million times this.

I can just imagine a conversation in a Comcast business office.

Engineer: So boss, we'll need about $20 million to give everyone in this part of town the bandwidth we're advertising.

Boss: Or...OR we could invest $1 million to develop a fraction of that bandwidth and keep the other $19 million for ourselves, all while still getting all the sweet incentives we get for providing the bandwidth we promised but aren't going to deliver. It's not like everyone is going to be online at the same time anyway, so they'll only notice it at peak hours. And it's not like they have an alternative. We're going to be rich. Well...richer.

<a few years pass>

Engineer: Ok boss, file sizes have gone up, people are streaming media now, and there's that cloud thing. People are really noticing that they're not getting the bandwidth they were promised beyond just peak hours now. We're going to need at least some of that $20 million we originally needed to upgrade their infrastructure so we can deliver that bandwidth.

Boss: Nah that's not going to work. How do you expect me to keep making payments on my yacht, little guy? Instead, let's just put a cap on how much bandwidth they use every month. Then we can either throttle them down or charge them more money. That will keep those greedy bastards from trying to actually use the bandwidth they think they're getting.

<a few more years pass>

Engineer: Bossman, Netflix and streaming radio are super popular now. Everyone is using the cloud, people are downloading huge games and movies. We can't even come close to delivering the bandwidth people are paying for now. We're going to need to dip into that $20 million we were supposed to have 7 years ago.

Boss: Oh man, you're so naive. I've got this great idea. Since we've already punished the users for having the gall to actually try to use the bandwidth we're selling them, let's charge the websites money for creating a product that made our customers try and use their bandwidth. Then not only are we not spending money, but we're actually making even more money than before. My wife was just saying the other day that she wishes we had a second yacht for the kids.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

So when Obama mentions this in SotU both sides of the aisle will applaud right? Seems pretty much like saying you like kittens.

I doubt Republicans will applaud the FCC taking power currently held by the states.

I doubt Republicans would applaud the kitten proclamation, too.