Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.

Dismiss

Di: Giga-Fight, Building a Broadband Network

0 views

Skip to first unread message

God's Brain

unread,

May 4, 2005, 10:36:05 AM5/4/05

</html>

http://www.motherjones.com/news/dispatch/2005/05/municipal_broadband.html

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta http-equiv="Expires" content="0">
<meta name="keywords" content="municipal broadband, media, internet,
television, telecommunications, cable, sbc, comcast">
<meta name="description">
<meta name="atomz_id"
content="newsdispatch200505municipalbroadbandhtml">
<title>GigaFight</title>
<meta name="story_date" content="2005-05-01">
<meta name="headline" content="GigaFight">
<meta name="alt_title" content="">
<meta name="pqarchive_id" content="">
<meta name="top_categories" content="">
<meta name="sub_categories" content="">

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">

</SCRIPT>
<script language="JavaScript1.1" type="text/javascript">

</SCRIPT>

<script type="text/javascript" language="Javascript">
<!--

// here are oas site, page, and random number variables
var url1 = document.URL;
var Reg1 = /(\w+):\/\/[\w.]+/;
var url2 = url1.replace(Reg1, "motherjones.com");
var Reg2 = /\?.*/g;
var url3 = url2.replace(Reg2, "");
var Reg3 = /#.*/g;
var url4 = url3.replace(Reg3, "");
var last = url4.length - 1;
if (url4.substr(last,1) == "/") {
url4 = url4 + "index.html";
}
var sitepage = url4;

var oas='http://motherjones.com/RealMedia/ads/';

var RN = new String (Math.random());
var RNS = RN.substring (2, 11);

// here is the ad insertion function
function DisplayAds (position, width, height)
{
var oaspage= sitepage + '/1' + RNS + '@' + position;
if ( _version < 11 ) {
document.write ('<A HREF="' + oas + 'click_nx.ads/' +
oaspage + '" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="' + oas + 'adstream_nx.ads/' +
oaspage + '" BORDER="0" WIDTH="' + width + '" HEIGHT="' + height +
'"><' + '/a>');
} else {
document.write ('<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.1"
SRC="' + oas + 'adstream_jx.ads/' + oaspage + '">');
document.write ('\<\!-- --\>');
document.write ('\<\/SCRIPT\>');
document.write ('\<\!-- --\>');
}
}
// -->
</SCRIPT>

</head>

<body>

<script language="javascript">
var _hbEC=0,_hbE=new Array;function _hbEvent(a,b){b=_hbE[_hbEC++]=new
Object();b._N=a;b._C=0;return b;}
var
hbx=_hbEvent("pv");hbx.vpc="HBX0100u";hbx.gn="ehg-foundation.hitbox.com";

//BEGIN EDITABLE SECTION
//CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
hbx.acct="DM5307296NDD68EN3";//ACCOUNT NUMBER(S)
hbx.pn="municipal broadband";//PAGE NAME(S)
hbx.mlc="News";//MULTI-LEVEL CONTENT CATEGORY
hbx.pndef="index.html";//DEFAULT PAGE NAME
hbx.ctdef="full";//DEFAULT CONTENT CATEGORY

//OPTIONAL PAGE VARIABLES
//ACTION SETTINGS
hbx.fv="n";//FORM VALIDATION MINIMUM ELEMENTS OR SUBMIT FUNCTION NAME
hbx.lt="none";//LINK TRACKING
hbx.dlf="n";//DOWNLOAD FILTER
hbx.dft="n";//DOWNLOAD FILE NAMING
hbx.elf="n";//EXIT LINK FILTER

//SEGMENTS AND FUNNELS
hbx.seg="";//VISITOR SEGMENTATION
hbx.fnl="";//FUNNELS

//CAMPAIGNS
hbx.cmp="";//CAMPAIGN ID
hbx.cmpn="";//CAMPAIGN ID IN QUERY
hbx.dcmp="";//DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN ID
hbx.dcmpn="";//DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN ID IN QUERY
hbx.dcmpe="";//DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN EXPIRATION
hbx.dcmpre="";//DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN RESPONSE EXPIRATION
hbx.hra="";//RESPONSE ATTRIBUTE
hbx.hqsr="";//RESPONSE ATTRIBUTE IN REFERRAL QUERY
hbx.hqsp="";//RESPONSE ATTRIBUTE IN QUERY
hbx.hlt="";//LEAD TRACKING
hbx.hla="";//LEAD ATTRIBUTE
hbx.gp="";//CAMPAIGN GOAL
hbx.gpn="";//CAMPAIGN GOAL IN QUERY
hbx.hcn="";//CONVERSION ATTRIBUTE
hbx.hcv="";//CONVERSION VALUE
hbx.cp="null";//LEGACY CAMPAIGN
hbx.cpd="";//CAMPAIGN DOMAIN

//CUSTOM VARIABLES
hbx.ci="";//CUSTOMER ID
hbx.hc1="MagazineContent";//CUSTOM 1
hbx.hc2="";//CUSTOM 2
hbx.hc3="";//CUSTOM 3
hbx.hc4="";//CUSTOM 4
hbx.hrf="";//CUSTOM REFERRER
hbx.pec="";//ERROR CODES

//INSERT CUSTOM EVENTS

//END EDITABLE SECTION

//REQUIRED SECTION. CHANGE "YOURSERVER" TO VALID LOCATION ON YOUR WEB
SERVER (HTTPS IF FROM SECURE SERVER)
</script><script language="javascript1.1" defer
src="http://www.motherjones.com/hbx.js"></script>

<table width="740" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td>
<div class="top-leaderboard">
<p align="center">----Advertisement----</p>
<script language="Javascript" type="text/javascript">

</script>

<p align="center">----Advertisement----</p>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<input type="hidden" name="update" value="t">
<input type="text" size="10" name="email" value="your e-mail"
maxlength="100">
<div class="top_promo_signup"><input type="image" value="Sign Up"
SRC="../../../../images/signup_54x15.gif" border="0" vspace="8"
alt="Sign Up"></div></form></div></td>
</tr>
</table><table width="740" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>

<td width="122" valign="TOP" align="LEFT" id="left-column">
<div id="left-column-edit" class="noindex">
<div class="main-nav">
<a href="/index.html">HOME</a>
<br><a href="/news/index.html">NEWS</a>
<br><a href="/commentary/index.html">COMMENTARY</a>
<br><a href="/arts/index.html">ARTS</a>

<br><a href="/mojoblog/index.html">MOJOBLOG</a>
<br><a href="/about/services/index.html">CUSTOMER SERVICE</a>
<br><a href="/about/philanthropy/index.html">DONATE</a>
<br><a href="http://market.motherjones.com/">STORE</a>
<br><a href="/about/index.html">ABOUT US</a>
<br><a
href="http://ga3.org/investigativefund/home.html">NEWSLETTERS</a>
<br><a href="/subscribe">SUBSCRIBE</a>
</div>

<hr>

<form action="http://search.atomz.com/search/" class="left-indent">
<input type=hidden name=sp-a value="sp1002c8b7">
<input type=hidden name=sp-t value="search">
<input type=hidden name=sp-f value="iso-8859-1">
<input type="hidden" name="sp-x-10" value="year">
<input type="hidden" name="sp-q-10" value="2003">
<input type="hidden" name="sp-q-required-10" value="0">
<input type="text" name="sp-q" size=10>
<input TYPE="IMAGE" SRC="../../../../images/search_button_ltgrey.gif"
ALT="Search">
<p CLASS="leftcol-mini"><a href="/search/other.html">Advanced
Search</a></p>
<p CLASS="leftcol-mini"><a href="/search/back_issues.html">Browse Back
Issues</a></p>

</form>

</div>
</div>

<div class="mag-promo">
<p><img src="http://www.motherjones.com/images/magazine_90x11.gif"
width="90" height="11" alt="The Magazine"><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/toc/2005/05/index.html"><img
src="http://www.motherjones.com/toc/2005/05/cover_97x126.jpg"
vspace="4" width="97" height="126" alt="Current Issue" border="1"></a>
<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/toc/2005/05/index.html">Read
the<br>Current Issue</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/subscribe/">SUBSCRIBE NOW</a>
CRAZY PRICE!
<br>1 year just $10
<br><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/subscribe/">Click
Here</a></p></p>

</p>

</div>

<div id="left-column-menu-box" class="noindex">
<div class="left-col-menu">
<img src="http://www.motherjones.com/images/motherlode_97x32.gif"
width="97" height="32" alt="The Mother Lode">
<a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/search/category_arts.html">Arts</a>
<br><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/search/category_business.html">Business</a>
<br><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/search/category_children.html">Children/Youth</a>
<br><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/search/category_economy.html">Economy</a>
<br><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/search/category_education.html">Education</a>
<br><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/search/category_environment.html">Environment</a>

<br><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/search/category_us_government.html">U.S.
Government</a>
<br><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/search/category_us_politics.html">U.S.
Politics</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="leftcolpromo">
<a href="https://secure.ga3.org/03/donate_now"><img
src="http://www.motherjones.com/images/donate_97x168.gif" width="96"
height="168" alt="Donate Today" border="0"></a>
</div>

<hr>

<div class="leftcolpromo">
<p><img src="http://www.motherjones.com/images/paid_content_icon.gif"
width="21" height="14" alt="$" border="0"><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/about/services/paid_content.html">Learn
about subscriber content</a></p>
</div>

</div>

</td>


<td valign="TOP" align="LEFT" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div class="story-content">
<h1>

GigaFight
</h1>

<table width="265" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"
class="image-table-left" align="left">
<tr>

</table>

<p CLASS="storydek">

<span class="section">News:</span> When a sleepy Midwestern
community tried to treat high-speed Internet like a public utility,
commercial broadband giants spared no expense to win the Battle of the
Bandwidth.

</p>

</script>
By David Case</strong>

</p>

<a href="../../../../toc/2005/05/index.html">

May/June 2005 Issue

</a>

</p>

<div class="whats-hot">
<img src="http://www.motherjones.com/images/whatshot_181x10.gif"
width="181" height="10" alt="#">
<p>
<a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2005/05/world_burns.html"><img
border="1" width="95" height="60" alt="#" align="left"
src="http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2005/05/world_burns_95x60.gif"></a>
<span class="smallheadline"><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2005/05/world_burns.html">As
The World Burns</a></span><br>
A <i>Mother Jones</i> special project on global warming
</p>
</div>

</td>
</tr>

<p align="center" id="ad-notice">----Advertisements----</p>

</td>
</tr>

</div>

<p align="center" id="ad-notice-again">----Advertisements----</p>

</td>
</tr>

</TABLE>

<p>
<p>ONE DAY IN THE FALL OF 2004, Mike Simon was interrupted by a phone
call that he still remembers well. The caller was a pollster, who
asked a dozen or so questions related to the local government’s plan
to build a broadband network. The questions became increasingly
annoying. Then came the kicker: “Should tax money be allowed to
provide pornographic movies for residents?” the caller asked. “It was
just blatantly a push poll,” says Simon, a landlord and entrepreneur
in a Chicago exurb called the Tri-Cities. “When I asked, ‘Who are you
representing?’ they just hung up.”</p>
<p>That pollster, it was clear, was part of the strong resistance that
had mobilized against the community’s broadband plan. The Tri-Cities,
like hundreds of other cities and towns around the United States, had
had difficulty getting high-speed, high-quality, competitive Internet
service from the major providers. So, like other cities, it came up
with a solution, and in the process aroused the attention of
giants—the incumbent broadband providers SBC and Comcast.</p>
<p>The term “broadband” refers to high-capacity data networks, often
made up of fiber-optic cables that run through underground pipes. The
central nervous system of today’s communications systems is built of
these high-speed cables, which deliver everything from HBO and ESPN to
phone calls, DSL, and cable Internet access. The core of that network
has been in place for years, but many of the extremities extending to
more distant communities have yet to be constructed. Companies that
own the infrastructure have been making money in densely populated,
upper-income areas where they can win lots of customers per mile of
cable. But they’ve dragged their feet when it comes to reaching
markets they consider less lucrative. </p>

<p>In the places they do serve, companies like BellSouth, Qwest, and
the local phone companies are often essentially alone in the DSL or
cable markets and charge fat, monopolistic fees. In Iowa, for
instance, where Iowa Telecom has skimpy competition, users pay $169.95
for their monthly service, compared with a typical fee of $40 in New
York City, where upward of six providers compete for high-speed
customers. Half of rural households say they don’t have high-speed
Internet access because it’s either unavailable or too expensive.</p>
<p>Yet even as the corporate leviathans have neglected outlying areas,
they’re waging fierce battles to prevent local governments from
filling the gap. By the time the Tri-Cities fight was over, in late
2004, citizens like Simon were shocked by the hardball played by SBC
and Comcast in staking out Tri-Cities turf. “This was the epitome of
corporate greed,” says Simon, “where you have big companies trying to
put one over on the little people.”</p>
<p>Founded more than 150 years ago along a scenic stretch of Illinois’
Fox River, the Tri-Cities–Geneva, Batavia, and St. Charles–are in many
ways the heart of the mythical American heartland. Affluent and
Republican, they offer excellent schools, civic pride, safe streets
lined with Victorian houses. When Batavia wanted a brick walkway along
its riverfront, citizens volunteered eight years of weekends to lay
one. The cities each run publicly owned electric utilities, and the
locals boast about low rates and reliability.</p>
<p>That spirit of self-reliance inspired the local broadband effort
that came to a head in 2003. Forty-five miles west of Chicago, the
Tri-Cities (population 75,000) host several sizable employers like
Suncast Corporation, Flinn Scientific, and the Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory. But when it came to the info-superhighway, the
cities were in the deep woods. Geneva’s City Hall fielded almost daily
complaints from people frustrated with slow Internet access. Small
businesses were paying as much for T1 lines (which deliver data
roughly at the speed of a cable modem) as they were paying for rent,
and citizens were stuck trying to cram megabytes through dial-up
connections. Being in the Midwest, people were familiar with the fate
of 19th-century towns that were bypassed by railroads: “They just
shriveled up and disappeared,” says resident Annie Collins.</p>

<div class="noindex">
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">

</script>

<form action="/scripts/subscriber.php" method="post" onsubmit="return
test_cookies();">

<div class="paywall-box">
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><p class="dek"><b>To get immediate access to the
complete version of this story, you must be a <i>Mother Jones</i>
subscriber.</b>
<br><img src="../../../../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="12"
alt=""></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><a
href="https://www.kable.com/pub/mrjs/suballtemplate.asp?laf=PYWL"
target="new">
<img src="../../../../images/subscribe_button_353x33.gif" width="353"
height="33" vspace="2" alt="Subscribe here to get instant access"
border="0"></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><img src="../../../../images/spacer.gif" width="1"
height="16" alt=""></td></tr>

<tr>
<td width="340" valign="top"><p class="storydek">
Current subscribers, enter access code: <input type="text" name="code"
size="4">
<input type=hidden name=path
value=/news/dispatch/2005/05/municipal_broadband.html></p>
</td>
<td width="220" valign="top">
<input type="IMAGE" src="../../../../images/go_button.gif" vspace="2"
width="41" height="19" border="0" alt="Go">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><p class="dek">Can't find your access code? Get help
<a href="../../../../about/services/free_access.html"
target="FreeWindow"
onclick="window.open('/about/services/free_access.html','FreeWindow',
'width=550,height=485,scrollbars=auto'); return
false">here</a>.</p></td>
</tr>
</table>

</div>
</form>
</div>

<TABLE WIDTH="270" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"
ALIGN="left">
<tr>
<td>

<div class="tools">
<div class="noindex">

<img src="/images/tools_251x21.gif" width="251" height="21"
alt="Tools">
<p><a href="javascript:email_article()"><img
src="/images/story_email.gif" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="22"
height="11" alt="Email" border="0"></a><a
href="javascript:email_article()">E-mail article</a><br>
<a href="javascript:print_article()"><img
src="/images/story_print.gif" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="22"
height="14" alt="Print" border="0"></a><a
href="javascript:print_article()">Print article</a></p>

<ul>
<li><a href="mailto:back...@motherjones.com?subject=Backtalk:
GigaFight">E-mail the editor</a></li>
</ul>

</div>
</div>

</td>
</tr>
</TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="270" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"
ALIGN="right">
<tr>
<td>
<div class="signup" style="margin-bottom: 16px;">
<p><img src="../../../../images/dontmiss_145x15.gif" width="145"
height="15" alt="Don't Miss A Thing!">
<br>Free Mother Jones Newsletters</p>

<form method="POST" action="http://ga3.org/offsite-join.tcl"
onsubmit="return validemail(this);">
<p><input type="checkbox" name="group1" value="mojo"><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/about/services/mojournal.html">The
MoJournal</a>
<br>Get our top headlines every week.
<input type="hidden" name="domain" value="investigativefund">
<input type="hidden" name="return_url"
value="http://www.motherjones.com/about/services/thanks_newsletters.html">

<p><input type="checkbox" name="group2" value="mure"><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/about/services/mustreads.html">Must
Reads</a>
<br>The best of the MoJo Blog
</p>

<p><input type="checkbox" name="group3" value="id"><a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/about/services/informed_dissent.html">Informed
Dissent</a>
<br>Get informed. Get Involved.
</p>

<p><input type="radio" name="email_pref" value="html"
checked>HTML <input type="radio" name="email_pref"
value="plain">Text

<p><img src="/images/donate_today_105x15.gif" width="105" height="15"
alt="Donate Today">
<br><a href="https://secure.ga3.org/03/donate_now">Click here</a> to
support
the Mother Jones Investigative Fund.</p>
</form>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

</div>

<tr>
<td width="280" valign="top">
<ul>
<li><a
href="/commentary/columns/2005/05/winners_and_losers.html">Losing the
American "Near Abroad"</a></li>
<li><a href="/news/update/2005/05/sadr.html">Sadr
International</a></li>
<li><a href="/news/feature/2005/05/blackgold.html">Black
Gold?</a></li>
<li><a href="/arts/qa/2005/05/Safran_Foer.html">Jonathan Safran
Foer</a></li>
</ul>
</td>
<td width="20"> </td>
<td width="280" valign="top">
<ul>
<li><a href="/arts/music/2005/05/sonny_landreth.html">Music Review:
Grant Street by Sonny Landreth</a></li>

<li><a href="/arts/music/2005/05/sage_francis.html">Music Review: A
Healthy Distrust by Sage Francis</a></li>
<li><a href="/arts/music/2005/05/music_reviews.html">Music Review:
Martha Wainwright by Martha Wainwright</a></li>
<li><a href="/arts/film/2005/05/shelby_knox.html">Film Review: The
Education of Shelby Knox</a></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>

</td>

</tr>

<hr>

<div class="leaderboard">
<p style="position: relative; left: 310px;">----Advertisement----</p>

<p style="position: relative; left: 310px;">----Advertisement----</p>
</div>
<hr width=736>

<div class="footer">
<p>

Illustration:
<a href="http://www.hersey.com/" target="new">John Hersey</a>

</p>

<p>This article has been made possible by the <a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/about/admin/index.html">Foundation
for National Progress</a>, the <a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/about/philanthropy/index.html">Investigative
Fund of Mother Jones</a>, and <a target="new"
href="https://secure.ga3.org/03/donate_now">gifts from generous
readers like you</a>.</p>

<p class="textnav">
<a href="../../../../about/philanthropy/index.html">Support Us</a>
  <a href="../../../../about/sales/index.html">Advertise</a>
  <a href="../../../../about/sales/policy.html">Ad Policy</a>
  <a href="../../../../about/admin/privacy.html">Privacy
Policy</a>   <a href="../../../../about/index.html">Contact
Us</a>   <a href="/subscribe">Subscribe</a>   <a
href="../../../../cgi-bin/rss.cgi">RSS</a>

</p>
</div>

</td>

</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

0 new messages