Broadband Infrastructure Has Gotta Cost More Than That!

town hall meeting

If a national broadband infrastructure costs a measly $50 per house, and government, whether local, state or federal, need do no more than "champion" the build-out, how can we gussy this national broadband infrastructure policy up enough to make it sound glorious, like our electricity or former telecommunications infrastructure policies? We can't, unless we all agree that a national broadband infrastructure policy requires we centralize it, make it hugely (is that a word?) expensive, and require that it be administrated by corporations in the private sector, and content-controlled by local, state and federal governments.

Well, San Francisco said, "Pooh on that!". They're several months along, and several thousand Meraki units in place towards establishing a citywide decentralized broadband infrastructure that brings high speed broadband access to every home in the city. Ypsilanti, Michigan said, "Pooh on that!". They're several months along, and hundreds of Meraki units in place towards establishing a citywide decentralized broadband infrastructure that brings high speed broadband access to every home in the city. Two volunteers monitor, operate and maintain the entire thing.

It's just tough to figure out how something so easy, so simple, could need to be gussied up, until it becomes impossible to understand, and requires multi-billion dollar investment in order to become a reality. Granted, there are limitations to community wireless mesh networks that might be solved, but would require additional investment in equipment and technical expertise, but, hey, it's a start, and a darn cheap one, at that.

We know that our government really, really wants every American to continue to watch the major television networks when everything goes digital in February, 2009. They have a list of devices, just like the Meraki units, for people to purchase that will enable them to convert their digital signals back to analog, so they can continue to use their televisions. Funny thing, though, these selected devices won't enable every American to use their computers to enjoy high speed broadband access to their neighbors and throughout their community. The $50 Meraki units enable computers to replace their phones, tvs, radios, and to surf the web. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been allocated to make sure every American can continue to watch their tvs, but not one Meraki unit has been dedicated to making sure every American can use their computer for phone calls, watch tv, listen to radio, or surf the web.

We have to gussy this national broadband infrastructure policy thing up, and get the message out. Our country needs a national broadband infrastructure policy, and we certainly don't need a centralized national broadband infrastructure policy. We need a decentralized national broadband infrastructure policy, one we own, not some corporation.