If you can design a modem that will make it possible for Farmer John
to download porn at 5Mbps through a sewer pipe then I am sure you
will be lauded as a hero. Broadband Nirvana will have been achieved!
As far as making the grid more reliable and secure...why would the power
companies spend money on that? There's no ROI. Power companies want to
get into broadband so the power company execs can make their millions and
retire in the South of France. The only way the grid is going to be
improved is if it is mandated by the government. If it is mandated by the
government you can bet it will be subsidized with our tax dollars as usual.
Personally, I'd love to get off the grid completely. Unfortunately,
one of the many zoning regulations in my city is one that prohibits me
from running a generator at my home. I couldn't put up a windmill because
of height limits. Even installing a solar panel would probably require
me to kiss the rear end of all of the city council members! At the very
least it would probably require a 1 year long environmental impact study
and a public hearing.
On Sun, 23 May 2004 23:03:50 -0400, "Dave Bernstein" wrote:
>
> Great. Then let's get the sewer companies involved in providing
> broadband access; they've got fat pipes into lots of houses.
>
> Seriously, if national defense and homeland security are truly
> priorities, then the power industry should be focused on
>
> 1. making the grid reliable
>
> 2. making the grid secure
>
> Either of these are major undertakings; both are all-consuming. In light
> of this, how can one justify defocusing the power industry from these
> critical objectives in order to chase after broadband?
>
> Who besides the power industry can accomplish these objectives?
>
> 73,
>
> Dave, AA6YQ
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rfi-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:rfi-bounces@contesting.com] On
> Behalf Of Eric Rosenberg
> Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 22:53
> To: rfi@contesting.com
> Subject: [RFI] More Thoughts on BPL
>
>
> As you all do, I too, find all of the discussion regarding BPL most
> fascinating and wide ranging.
>
> What I read here on the RFI list seems to miss the point that, as I
> read what the White House has put out on the subject, BPL is only one
> tool in a much larger toolbox that administration is using to achieve
> its stated goal of universal access to broadband technologies by
> 2007.
>
> To state it more simply:
> The administration's vision is to create jobs and foster economic
> growth. Broadband technology is to be the engine, as it can reach all
> sectors of the American society. It's not about any one technology,
> it's about the economy. It's political, not technical.
>
> Read the material I've listed below: health care (telemedicine) and
> education (distance education) are prominantly mentioned, with the
> underlying notion that national defense and homeland security must be
> assured first.
>
> I can't explain why BPL has achieved such prominence other than that it
> appers to go along with the open market philosophy currently in vogue
> that says that the suppliers of broadband technology shouldn't be
> limited to the traditional telecommunications carriers.
>
> The policy document from the White House: "A New Generation of
> American Innovation" is worth a read:
> http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/technology/economic_policy200404/toc.h
> tml
>
> as are the following Presidential speeches:
> April 26, 2004
> - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040426-6.html
> March 26, 2004 -
> http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040326-9.html
> June 13, 2002
> http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020613-11.html
>
> While I cannot answer the question as to whether Sen. Kerry has taken a
> position on BPL, I can't imagine he'd oppose (or even talk about) the
> administration's high-level position as I've stated it above. It's as
> American as Mom and Apple Pie, and crosses all political lines.
>
> Eric W3DQ
> Washington, DC
>
>
>
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>
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