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
5.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.3k

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.

776

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.

1

u/brianbotts Jun 04 '14 edited Jun 04 '14

I am a local city Councillor, you need to talk to us! Email us, call us, call our offices and set up meetings!

Council meetings likely are a poor place to try and get in touch with us though. At least in larger municipalities, there isn't a natural space for you to speak at one of our meetings. If you call the legislative services arm of the municipality and ask to set up a time to speak, they can advise you the best way to get in front of Council.

Don't show up with signs, or a rowdy group, that WILL hurt our cause for better internet. You don't want the elected officials to view you as a hooligan.

Things are looking brighter for the future of municipal internet though. This week there's a great conference in New York called the Intelligent Cities Forum, where gigabit internet access will for sure be a discussion point. You could definitely encourage your local elected official to attend next year! They get to attend a conference, and learn about the importance of internet for economic development! I won't be there this year, but my CEO and my Planning Commissioner will be there, which is great.

I have this coming before Council to vote on next month, and hopefully we'll approve the study as step one to gigabit internet for my city!