[Cialug] Iowa Municipal Telecom Legisation

[Dave J. Hala Jr.]

On Tue, 2005-02-22 at 17:05, Michael Osten wrote:
> On Feb 22, 2005, at 4:43 PM, Dave J. Hala Jr. wrote:
> 
> > I don't agree that a having a municipal service would limit choice.
> 
> If a municipal service can operate at a loss subsidize by tax dollars 
> (which most of them do) how could you possibly expect competition?

Some break even. Some lose money. Some have competitors. I compete
against companies that work for free. I'm making a living. Cost is not
always the controlling factor.


> 
> 
> > Yes, the telco environment isn't the most open, but it is more
> > "socialized" than a municipal ISP.
> 
> Hardly.  Teleco is regulated, but is still operates in a competitive 
> market with competitors (in areas that are capable of producing profit, 
> some areas are not) and are forced by the government to open their 
> networks to the competition. (see ILEC and CLEC).  A municipal ISP 
> would be a government entity subjected to whatever rules they fancy.
> 

I agree that a telco and a muni ISP would operate under differant sets
of rules. However, change is the nature of the beast. Don't take this
the wrong way, but have you seen a telco do anything truly innovative in
the last five years?  Competition is a good thing no matter where it
comes from.







> 
> 
> --
> Michael Osten
> http://www.bleepyou.com/~mosten/pgp.txt
> 
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Open Source Information Systems (OSIS)
Dave J. Hala Jr. <dave@osis.us>
641.485.1606