 pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium join:2002-05-02 Mount Airy, MD | reply to jvanbrecht
Re: ENOUGH! According to the government, only 19 million people out of 305 million have no access to broadband. That comes out to just over 6% of the US population. This is hardly a huge problem anymore.
said by jvanbrecht:At the same time, broadband is no longer a luxury anymore. It is the next type of communications, same as the telephone was back in the day. I agree that broadband for most people is not a luxury, but for the people who do not have it, it is clearly not a deal breaker. You don't see the 6.22% of the population with no access to broadband dying off right and left as you would if they had no access to say, clean drinking water.
said by jvanbrecht:As a side note, your statement about moving to a new area with broadband, or paying for it with ones own money is absolutely ridiculous, considering much little (with the exception of FIOS) of the broadband infrastructure was paid for with tax payer money, and using easement rights on peoples properties with little that property owners can do (ATT's uverse and those ugly ass cabinets) to prevent it. Why should I pay for service to my house when the companies have been using public funds (either through direct funding, or massive tax breaks). All utilities use easements. I'd have no problem if another privately funded provider wanted to make use of easements to offer a new broadband option. As for taxpayer subsidies, that certainly isn't true for most cable companies. And yes, I will agree with you somewhat that if a provider has to use something on your property that significantly disrupts your use of your property, you should be allowed to come to an arrangement that is mutually beneficial (free service from said provider would be nice). -- Romney/Ryan 2012 - Put a couple of mature adults in charge. |
 | I wouldn't use death as the criterion for what is a "deal breaker", after-all one wouldn't die without electricity ( in most cases) or water service, but in order to participate and function in modern society, would be better. |