[12819] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Information subsidies
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Barry Shein)
Mon May 30 04:59:48 1994
Date: Sun, 29 May 1994 16:42:28 -0400
From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
To: fidelman@civicnet.org
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <Pine.3.89.9405280908.A8456-0100000@world.std.com> (message from Miles R Fidelman on Sat, 28 May 1994 10:13:51 -0400 (EDT))
>From: Miles R Fidelman <fidelman@civicnet.org>
>i. much of the country's population doesn't live in major metropolitan
>areas
...
>urban-rural cross-subsidies built into the regulated pricing structure,
>it also took (takes) the form of loan funds available to rural telephone
>cooperatives (from the Federal Rural Electrification Agency)
According to the US Bureau of Census about 197.5M Americans live in
metropolitan areas of 100,000 or more (1990). And I'd categorize that
as conservative (they say 15% of RI is "rural".)
I'm not sure what was meant by "much", it's a little vague. But it
isn't 1933 any longer, either. Analogies to Rural Electrification etc
demand re-examination in our current environment.
Since the means of access to the net is the phone system (not *only*
the phone system, but it's sufficient) what would be useful is a
statement on how many people fit that category in terms of the
technology rather than whether or not you can get to them via subway.
I am sure the number is non-zero, but I wonder if, at this point,
whether it's a rather special case that can be dealt with by something
much less grandiose and sweeping than Rural Electrification etc.
>[note: in a
>lot of rural areas its hard to find an analog line capable of supporting
>v.32 modems, and good luck in finding a rural cable system with a fiber
>backbone capable of supporting ethernet-over-cable technology]
Can you give us any sense of the numbers of people and communities
involved?
I'm not sure ethernet-over-cable is a realistic short-term goal,
people choose to live in isolated areas and understand there are
certain things that are not available there. In many cases they are
glad they are not, one would presume.
Also, what impact will satellite and cellular technology have on this
issue? Motorola is launching something over 100 satellites into low
earth orbit over the next few years which, it is claimed, will girdle
much of the world's population and provide them with ready access to
telephony etc.
>since local loop costs are
>currently regulated by public utility commissions it seems reasonable for
>us to pressure regulators to set local loop pricing in a way that
>encourages small business use of the Internet ----- I find it quite
>discouraging that small Internent providers are not more active in
>lobbying PUCs (this one is not an issue of should Government regulate or
>not, in this case the issue is whether or not the Internet community
>should be promoting its own interests in an already regulated arena)
It's the old problem of diminishing returns and where you place your
efforts. Right now growth is so fast in metropolitan areas that few
providers have the time of day to explore rural areas and fight with
the PUCs just to get into a pool of a few thousand more customers here
and there.
And the rates for installing local dial-up points are not that
outrageous, it's just a bit capital-intensive and, well, one tends to
prioritize their efforts for the moment, that will change. When
opening a new frontier with vast, fertile land it's not shocking that
draining the few swamps is not an active area. As I said, that will
change, it's not a big deal (for the providers.) Some sort of focused
SBA loan program would probably accellerate this process immensely.
The biggest problem remains the monopoly, even if at this point only
in fact, by RBOCs. They are astoundingly bungling and inept and often
seem unable to do what is in their own best interest (according to
their own assessment.)
Lenny Bruce, the political comedian, once remarked about a visit to
the Soviet Union in the 1960's: Imagine an entire nation run by the
phone company...
I can't say they don't sometimes try, but at least our RBOC seems to
be so infested with institutional rot basically of the variety ``hey
pal I'll have my job and pick up my paycheck whether YOU'RE happy or
not!'' that only competition is going to change anything. I could tell
you first-hand stories that would make your hair stand on end.
-Barry Shein
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