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odnc
Premium
join:2002-02-04
Richmond, VA | reply to guitarzan
Re: BS
It's a variable rate, $5000-$75000.
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This country needs an enema. | |
guitarzan
Premium
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA | reply to hottboiinnc
Whats the going price for politicians nowadays.? Maybe the people here can pick one or two used ones up cheap.! | |
batageek
Slave To The Duopoly
Premium
join:2003-01-25
| reply to justncredible
»www.tricitybroadband.com/failures.htm
Read up! quoted directly from the page linked above:
BROADBAND "FAILURES"
The opposition has cited these cities (out of over 580) where they say a municipal broadband utility has failed... They ALSO SAY that there aren't any other communities out there who are providing Fiber To The Home (FTTH). That's news to the 70 communities who belong to the FTTH Council. Check out the list here. And these are not little communities stuck out in the cornfields where there is no competition for service!
Tacoma, Washington
This is news to the folks in Tacoma, whose municipal broadband utility is operating IN THE BLACK and has not resulted in a tax hike. What has happened in Tacoma is that they are not reaching their projected market share as quickly as they predicted. But the utility is alive and well and making money. Check out their public utility »www.ci.tacoma.wa.us/tpu/" >www.thecityoftacoma.com/tacoma.h···.us/tpu/ ). Click the "Click! Network" link on the left side of their page.
And read this recent article in Wired News about Tacoma ...
(»www.tricitybroadband.com/wired.htm)
The Charge: To pay for increased capital costs for their fiber system, Tacoma Public Utilities imposed a 50% surcharge on local electric bills.
Response From The Utility: " I am aware of your citizens group, your upcoming Tri City Broadband Referendum and the aggressive media campaign by those in opposition to your efforts. I review DSL Reports regularly and would like to set the record straight about Click! Network, for those who are interested in facts rather than propaganda.
Click! Network was constructed primarily for the utility’s use, and would have been built whether we deployed commercial services (cable TV, Internet services and data services) or not. I’ve attached a document with a brief history, in hopes the accurate story about Click! will be shared.
To date, Click! serves 21,500 cable TV customers (32% of the homes the network passes), 6,500 high-speed Internet over cable modem customers, and several dozen businesses with high-speed data lines. Our commercial revenues are covering our operating expenses. Efficiencies to the utility have been considerable since Click! facilities are connected to remote terminal units on utility poles around the city. Electric technicians can monitor the health of the power network and dispatch repair crews to exact locations, in a fraction of the time it use to take. Eventually, the utility will be able to automatically connect and disconnect power services and read meters, increasing operational efficiencies.
Attempts by others to thwart competition should be examined carefully. Competition in Tacoma has meant increased customer service by all providers, lower prices, more choice and a boost to economic development. Since Tacoma Power’s investment in Click! Network, the City of Tacoma now markets itself as “America’s Most Wired City” and has lured high-tech businesses to the area.
An important note, those opposing your efforts have erroneously connected Tacoma Power’s surcharge during the energy crisis with Click! Network, when in fact the two have no connection at all. At the beginning of the energy crisis (winter 2000), Click! was already constructed in Tacoma and Tacoma Power had over $100,000,000 in cash reserves, which is triple the amount we carry on an operating basis for contingencies. The utility was determining the best way to invest it when the energy crisis hit. Unfortunately the $100,000,000 was not enough, and the utility chose to initiate a surcharge.
Those with questions about Click! Network can find additional information at our web site at www.click-network.com. Sincerely, Diane R. Lachel,Government and Community Relations Manager, Click! Network, Tacoma Power"
UPDATE 08/12/04 :
From: Lachel, Diane
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 4:46 PM
To: 'Annie Collins'
Subject: Click!'s response to SBC's report
Annie,
Feel free to use any of this information on your web site.
As you know, there has been an organized effort by private industry to discredit municipal telecommunication networks. The information about Click! Network in SBC's report ("Failed Municipal Fiber Networks") is the same old, tired, out-of-context story from previous industry sponsored reports. Here's the real story:
1. Tacoma Power constructed a telecommunications network for their own needs (to connect 65 substations to a centrally located Energy Control Center for the purpose of monitoring the electric system, managing energy load, automatically reading meters, automatically connecting and disconnecting meters, etc.) because the incumbent telephone company and incumbent cable TV company could not provide the capacity the utility required. During the design phase of the network, Tacoma Power decided to add other capacity (for cable TV, data transport and Internet services) on the advice of Stanford Research Institute when their conclusive research showed the Tacoma area was underserved.
2. Arthur Anderson and the Washington Institute Foundation (both cited in the SBC report) based their analysis on an initial planning document (revised after telecom experts were hired) which was one of many elements the policy makers used to authorize the utility to move forward with building Click! Network. The $40 million cited in the SBC report was never adopted as the budget. Instead, $92 million was approved by the Utility Board and City Council over a two biennium period to fund the network. SBC continues to perpetuate inaccuracies from two flawed reports.
3. According to the Public Utility Board, the Tacoma City Council, the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Board, The News Tribune and thousands of residential and business customers - Click! Network is a huge success.
4. SBC's link between Tacoma Power's rate increase and Click! Network has no basis in fact. Public utilities follow a very detailed rate case process, complete with public input. SBC's report shows a lack of understanding of the industry they attempt to discredit. The rate increase (the first in 5 years) was related solely to the energy crisis of 2000-01. Today, Tacoma Power customers pay some of the lowest rates for electricity in the country.
5. In the cities where Click! Network services are available (Tacoma, University Place and Fircrest) prices for cable TV and high-speed Internet are 20 - 25% lower than areas where competition does not exist.
6. Since Click! began providing services, both the incumbent telephone provider and the incumbent cable TV provider have rebuilt their networks, something that hadn't been done in the previous 25 years.
7. Since Click! began providing services, the timeframe for making business fiber connections decreased from 18 months (quoted by US West in 1997) to 30 days (quoted by Click!).
I hope SBC didn't invest too much on the report. It appears they didn't get their money's worth, if accuracy was a goal.
Diane R. Lachel
Government and Community Relations Manager
Click! Network / Tacoma Power
3628 South 35th Street
Tacoma, WA 98409-3192
phone: 253.502.8537
fax: 253.502.8493
dlachel@click-network.com
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»www.tricitybroadband.com | |
hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | reply to John Galt
i tried telling him that before. But he only posts when theres something about Munis putting in their own network. He's always against it. But then again he probably works for TWC there in WI and they pay him to say that. | |
cbrigante2
Cubs 20??
Premium
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL
| reply to justncredible
said by justncredible:
The article makes a very valid point. Read it.
It clearly cites failures such as CLICK in tacoma. Karl says there is successes yet he provides no proof of them. Where they at? Cite examples where it is clear a muni ran broadband project works. Show us where the spending of tax dollars benefits the whole city and not just a very few.
It is one thing for the politicians to think we are stupid enough to fall for this, it is another when Karl thinks people that come here are that dumb.
When you consider that EVERY town that has not been wired for broadband is a failure on the companies that are funding the Heartland group...I'd say that 1 Municipal failure is small by comparison. | |
John Galt
Forward, March
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp | reply to justncredible
Unregistered poster's comments are immediately discounted...
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A is A | |
justncredible
@rr.com
| reply to dadkins
The article makes a very valid point. Read it.
It clearly cites failures such as CLICK in tacoma. Karl says there is successes yet he provides no proof of them. Where they at? Cite examples where it is clear a muni ran broadband project works. Show us where the spending of tax dollars benefits the whole city and not just a very few.
It is one thing for the politicians to think we are stupid enough to fall for this, it is another when Karl thinks people that come here are that dumb. | |
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