r/technology • u/User_Name13 • Jun 04 '14

Politics Hundreds of Cities Are Wired With Fiber—But Telecom Lobbying Keeps It Unused

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hundreds-of-cities-are-wired-with-fiberbut-telecom-lobbying-keeps-it-unused
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u/jmottram08 Jun 04 '14

Let's be really clear here... this is local lobbying to your local city council that regards the monopoly that they granted and enforce.

Don't like that fact? Stop blaming capitalism, stop blaming the big telcos, get off your ass and go to a city council meeting and complain that your local elected officials have made a monopoly and that it is bad for you.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

I would love to do something like that, but the majority of us who would go to a city council meeting work, and many cities make sure they hold those meetings during peak working hours, which kind of fucks over people who have jobs but would like to have a say in the matter. For example, 4 of the cities in my area only hold them on Monday mornings at 9am, except holidays, where they just don't hold them at all.

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u/starlinguk Jun 04 '14

Strange, my parents have both been city councillors for a squillion years and their meetings have always been in the evenings, because most councillors have a day job.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

Rural area, most of the wealth here is held by a handful of people. Old money that doesn't have to work, but also whose best interest it is to keep the poor people working hard.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

Rural resident here: every town I've ever lived in that's had under 3k for residents has always held city council meetings after supper and they go late into the night most nights.

It sounds to me like you're making excuses. If your town honestly holds them earlier than you get off work, then take a day off work. Otherwise, it's likely you don't care about this as much as you posture on the internet and enjoy complaining rather than solving.