Philadelphia to fight ban on municipal networks

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: November 20, 2004 8:10:12 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Philadelphia to fight ban on municipal networks
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

[Note:  This item comes from friend Esme Vos of MuniWireless.com.  DLH]

Philadelphia to fight ban on municipal networks

Dianah Neff, chief information officer for the city of Philadelphia, 
posted this comment to my last article about the passage of House Bill 
30 (see <http://www.muniwireless.com/archives/000503.html>) prohibiting 
municipalities from delivering telecoms services. I did not want her 
comment to be "lost" in the comments section so here it is:

"This afternoon, Nov. 19, 2004, the Pennsylvania House and Senate 
passed HB 30 without amendment to the prohibition against government 
entities or any agency or non-profit set up by a government from 
providing broadband access for a fee.

The City of Philadelphia intends to aggressively pursue a veto of the 
Bill. The bill as it stands is not good for Philadelphia or the State 
of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is ranked as the 33 most wired or 
wireless City in the U.S. With the implementation of Wireless 
Philadelphia, the City would have moved into the top 3 cities in the 
country. With just the announcement to create a business plan and 
funding model to implement Wireless Philadelphia, we have generated 
world-wide interest and support.

Today less than 60 percent of the city's neighborhoods even have the 
option to subscribe to high-speed broadband (DSL or cable modem). The 
City believes adamantly that any citizen or business should have the 
opportunity to compete in this global, knowledge economy regardless of 
a neigborhood's economic status or area household density. Affordable, 
universal access benefits everyone.

The City intends to agressively pursue getting the Governor to veto the 
Bill. Should that fail, we will actively pursue other options of 
ensuring universal, affordable broadband access for every citizen, 
non-profit, business and tourist in Philadelphia."

Note: Read my articles about Scottsburg and Auburn, two communities in 
Indiana, that decided to deploy their own networks.
No broadband, no jobs <http://www.muniwireless.com/archives/000506.html>
Scottsburg, Indiana wireless network saves the community 
<http://www.muniwireless.com/archives/000315.html>

The interests of service providers like Verizon do not always coincide 
with the needs and desires of communities. This is why municipalities 
need to have the option of building their own networks and providing 
service.

Posted by Muniwireless November 20, 2004


Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>

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