But the Covid pandemic really reframes this particular debate.
The City of Wilson was sick of not having fast internet, so they built their own network. They run it like a city utility . . . and it worked (not an easy task). When the big telecom got wind of Wilson's success, they sent a horde of lobbyists to North Carolina to nip this in the bud. The telecom companies have been doing this on a state by state basis, and twenty states now have laws prohibiting cities from creating their own internet infrastructure.
These "level playing field" bills are pushed by telecom lobbyists in the name of free-market competition. But small towns lose out because sometimes it's not financially worth providing fast internet for them.
The question is this: how does the pandemic reframe this dilemma?
Is fast internet a luxury or a utility?
If public schools continue to use the internet for remote learning, then I think there needs to be a shift in the legislation. Fast broadband is vital to kids being educated. If towns want to provide this-- and they can pull it off-- then they should be allowed to do so.
Wilson has been grandfathered, and they are still providing inexpensive fast internet for their residents. But they are not allowed to expand. They should be a model for the nation-- the internet is more like water and electricity and public schools than it is like cable TV.
I'm sure the Trump team is on this.
wilson has an excellent chick-fil-a convenient to i-95. we used to stop there as a matter of course on our trips to see my mom and dad in myrtle beach.
ReplyDeleteand that's a fascinating story on a number of levels - the leverage big business has over public policy, the rapid and potentially radical changes in how lots of public services will be prioritized and delivered post-corona, progressive local policy implemented by ostensibly conservative politicians (wilson ain't exactly brooklyn). james fallows and his wife have written a lot about local experimentation that's seen good results even as it seems counterintuitive according to national political principles.
yes, hopefully some good political experimentation will come out of this virus (and possibly a scrambling of some of the particulars of what it means to be liberal or conservative . . . i will check out james fallows)
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