So, the Times checks into Philadelphia’s providing of wireless broadband to its citizens. Verizon, of course, went totally ballistic, and strong-armed the governor of PA into signing a bill forbidding any other municipality from doing the same, giving the local telephone companies 14 months head start.
"Government doesn’t do service well," said Eric Rabe, vice president for public relations for Verizon.
What garbage — have you ever had to call Verizon for anything? If the government can provide a service cheaper and better than private interests (hello single-payer health care) then it should. And folks should insist on it. Corporations reach into our pockets by lowering the public’s expectations for public services, and then write legislation to their own advantage. It’s a zero-sum game to them: They don’t want government to be on your side, they want it on their side. So they’ll tell you that government’s never going to help you. Voilà , self-fulfulling prophecy.
What about small businesses? Wouldn’t they like municipalities to provide some nice telecom infrastructure at an affordable price?
In the case of broadband, our options right now in MA are dreadful: pay way too much for cable (where there’s no competition in many places), or still too much for inferior DSL. If the city of Cambridge were to step in and offer cheap broadband, I’d be thrilled.
(Thanks to the Gadflyer.)
