maff wrote:

Pulling the Plug On Local Internet
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8524609/site/newsweek/

Guess who wants to stop you from getting universal, citywide wireless
cheaper than you get it now?

By Steven Levy
Newsweek

July 18 issue - Pete sessions, a Texas member of the House, believes in
states' rights. But he also thinks that there are situations so extreme
that Congress must slap down state and local government initiatives.
One such case: localities that offer citizens free or low-cost Internet
service. Idealists may view extending high-speed Internet as a boon to
education, an economic shot in the arm and a vital component in
effective emergency services. Sessions (who once worked for telecom
giant SBC) sees it as local-government meddling in the
marketplace-"trying to pick winners and losers," he says-and thus
justifies federal meddling to stop elected officials from giving their
constituents a stake in the 21st century.

The Sessions bill is only one shot in the battle over municipal
wireless, or muni Wi-Fi. In hundreds of communities, public officials
have concluded that the Internet is an essential service. They see that
their residents are either offered prices that are too high or are not
offered services at all. They are aware that while our nation stumbles
in high-speed-Internet adoption, other countries make sure consumers
can get connected at lower prices (Japanese and South Korean users pay
about half what we do). "We are asleep at the wheel," says Andrew
Rasiej, a candidate for public advocate in New York City.

Using "mesh" networks that run on the Wi-Fi wireless standard, cities
can deliver the Internet affordably to everyone within their
boundaries. "We can cover a city for a fraction of the cost of the
traditional providers," says Ron Sege of Tropos, a company that
installs shoe-box-size devices that beam the Net from street lamps.
This enables cities like Philadelphia to launch nonprofit efforts to
make whole neighborhoods into hotspots: public spaces get free access,
and citizens who use the service at home or around town are billed less
than $20 a month. "We all have to compete in a knowledge economy,"
explains Dianah Neff, the city's chief information officer, who says
the current providers focus excessively on the affluent.

The telecom and cable giants that sell broadband Internet have
mobilized to stop or-ganizers like Neff. The likes of Verizon, SBC and
Comcast are lobbying hard and donating big. They argue that
taxpayer-funded competition makes the marketplace unfair (ironic, since
those firms owe their dominance to government-granted monopolies).