NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] AT&T now claims it wants to do Austin fiber, BUT ...
AT&T now claims it wants to do Austin fiber, BUT ...
http://j.mp/10KCCF9 (AT&T)
"Today, AT&T announced that in conjunction with its previously
announced Project VIP expansion of broadband access, it is prepared to
build an advanced fiber optic infrastructure in Austin, Texas, capable
of delivering speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. AT&T's expanded
fiber plans in Austin anticipate it will be granted the same terms and
conditions as Google on issues such as geographic scope of offerings,
rights of way, permitting, state licenses and any investment
incentives. This expanded investment is not expected to materially
alter AT&T's anticipated 2013 capital expenditures."
- - -
Now let's think about this boys and girls. AT&T doesn't announce this
until the day Google makes their own announcement (and AT&T's direct
statement comes after a somewhat less direct "maybe" statement by AT&T
earlier in the day). And AT&T has a documented history of not
fulfilling their promises to municipalities regarding broadband
builds, going back many, many years. So, I find myself wondering what
AT&T would do if Google said something like, "OK, now that you want to
play, AT&T, why don't we split up Austin and other cities around the
country, pledge to permit open access to each others' resulting
service areas so that we can compete for customers on both systems
without duplicative physical facilities, and get fiber broadband out
everywhere? Oh yes, Time Warner, Comcast, and anyone else can
participate as well." I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this
kind of sensible approach, however.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
- Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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