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| No | 23% | 55 votes | Total: 238 votes | |
| Yes | 77% | 183 votes |
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Add to FavoritesThe biggest problem I have with government-backed WiFi is that it is an intrusion into private enterprise by the government that will only lead to inefficiencies and ultimately, higher taxes for us all.
The government has no right to compete with private enterprise in the first place, since we are living in a capitalistic system where entrepreneurs wanting to start new business ventures can raise money at any time. How is it fair, for private individuals who must fulfill stringent tests to secure financing, to have to try to compete with a government-backed network, which is run for free without concern for any profit? It is possible for private enterprise to install systems that would charge little or no usage fees, but then they would be almost completely dependent on ad revenue for their survival. If I want to start my own network, I don't want to have to compete with the government. Imagine the conflicts of interest created there, when I would have to secure permits from the very same government that I would be competing against!
As far as inefficiencies go, there is no substitute for free market competition to quickly build efficient systems. This is because those that are inefficient soon lose money and falter. Has anyone ever seen many government programs that are nimble of foot, and able to rapidly adapt to fast-changing systems? There is nothing more demanding, nor faster-paced than technology and the telecommunications systems of the world. As soon as one system starts to come into place, another is already being introduced. That will not change. In fact, it is a fact that technology, enabled by advances of recent years is changing more rapidly than ever. You can depend on that acceleration to continue. That is not something we should want a slow-moving bureaucratic government system to be in the midst of. Already in Philadelphia and other cities where wireless Internet systems have been introduced, they have found that the costs of implementation and maintenance are far exceeding their expectations, and they have been forced to scale back. You can mark my words that the problems associated with those existing networks will only grow. The government cannot keep up with private enterprise. If it tries, it develops monumental inefficiencies due to its inherent nature.
Private industry is forced to constantly revamp and streamline all of its systems in order to maintain a good income stream. If it fails to do so, it is quickly gobbled up by more efficient systems. Sadly, in some of the places where government regulated systems do make sense, such as in electrical power generation, we have seen a failure of government to act responsibly, deregulating things that are too easily manipulated by greedy individuals and malefactors. Thus we had the rolling power blackouts in California and elsewhere, when deregulated systems ran amuck chasing illegal profits. The government continues to prove its inability to anticipate technological needs. Over the next decade, it is estimated that our nation will need an additional 18% of electrical power generation, but so far, less than an 8% increase is planned, and some of that is in alternative energy sources such as wind and solar, which can't be relied on 24 hours a day. Unless things change, we will all experience blackouts during heat waves and times of high energy usage in the years ahead.
To allow local governments or national governments to intrude into the private sector and to steal potential new industries is a gigantic mistake. It will only result in the crippling of those industries, galloping inefficiencies, and ultimately, higher taxes on us all. Tell the governemnt to get out of the private sector. We can all be sure that there will be no lack of talent or monies to fulfill any demands that arise wherever there is a potential for profit. Let private investors take the hits when things go awry. At least things will evolve more quickly, and our taxes, hopefully, will not be raised ever higher.
Learn more about this author, Michael P. Sakowski.
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Yes
Municiple wi-fi is an ever growing topic among most mobile computer users. Let's face it, if you have a laptop; at some point in time you have been on a scavanger hunt to locate a wi-fi hotspot with a decent enough signal for you to hop on and use it. This act in itself garners enough taboo (due to your use of someone else's internet connection with/without them knowing). However, there are many places to do provide wi-fi as a service to their offerings.
The advantage of municiple wi-fi? Anyone at any given time can boot up their laptop and use the web. Now we all know the government well enough to know that nothing comes free (especially from to government); the local politicians would probably add a small service fee to the wi-fi access. Think of it as a tax to access information; whether it is your email or checking up on your eBay auctions. Personally, if a small fee (as long as it is small) keeps me from wasting gas driving around trying to locate free wi-fi elsewhere, I consider that saving me some money in the long run. No more looking strange, parked outside a restaurant trying to check my email. Let's face it, the world is an information technology driven world nowadays. Why not grow with the times?
I personally know several people that are still using dial-up. Why? They can't justify the cost of broadband access for the amount of web usage they get from dial-up. They don't require a fast internent connection because they online do things like bank, check email, and read the news online. None of these tasks really demand a fast connection. These same people have basically told me, 'I will stay with dial-up until our town offers free wireless. The I will buy a laptop.' I do not agree with this opinion; but then again, it is only an opinion. Everybody is entitled to their own, right?
One of the only issues I can think of when it comes to municipal wi-fi offerings is the shortage of power outlets. If you have a laptop, you understand what I mean. The battery life oftentimes is pretty short. You may decide to do some spontaneous web surfing and realize your battery is about dead. Without a place to plug up and charge, all the municipal wi-fi in the world will not charge that battery for you.
Think of a future in which you can access the web from any restaurant, hair salon, or truck stop without having to pay an extra $15.00 a month for access in your local Starbucks. This would help laptop toting students do some studying while on the move. I'm sure you'll eventually encounter someone trying to use the municiple wi-fi for malicious deeds, but like anything else, this would have to bee policed. This would no doubt create jobs in the areas offering the wi-fi. There will have to be IT staff monitoring the connection to ensure the public service stays up and running due to high bandwidth usage. There would have to be staff to install the wireless routers and access points and keep them maintenanced when they fail. And due to them being in non-signal blocking places they would no doubt be exposed to some form of weather and the elements in some degree. And this would eventually cause issues with the hardware, therefore bringing forth the need to service them.
On a large scale, the company providing the internet connection to the municipality would need to creat more jobs to handle the increasing demand from small and local governments making the wi-fi services available. No doubt, municiple wi-fi would throw a hitch in the plan of companies who presently offer broadband services. Due to the amount of casual web users not needing a large monthly fee to do simple and quick tasks on the web.
In short, a future in which local municipalities offer wi-fi would be a nice place indeed. However, I don't plan on seeing it in my neck of the woods due to the amount of red-tape and politcal funding bullcrap involved. Who knows, maybe some day.
Learn more about this author, Jeremy Matthews.
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