https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Call Center/Command


Government broadband debate could affect more than consumers

Government broadband debate could affect more than consumers

Telecom carriers are lobbying federal and state lawmakers heavily to prevent government entities from offering telecom services to protect the incumbents' commercial interests, but the effort ultimately could negatively impact public-safety communications
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 24th June 2005

Telecom carriers are lobbying federal and state lawmakers heavily to prevent government entities from offering telecom services to protect the incumbents’ commercial interests, but the effort ultimately could negatively impact public-safety communications.

At the heart of the carriers’ argument is a time-honored notion of a free-enterprise market — government entities should not compete in the marketplace against commercial businesses. In addition to the philosophical problems, many believe that it is unwise for a government entity to enter a market it knows little about in an effort to undercut the pricing of a private company that pays taxes and fees that support the government.

Proponents of municipal broadband offerings counter that cities should be able to control their own technological destinies, instead of being forced to wait until a telco or cable company decides the population is dense enough that it can offer broadband services profitably.

On the surface, this debate has little or nothing to do with public safety. But several broadband products — including Motorola’s hybrid antenna that supports two 2.4 GHz networks and two 4.9 GHz networks — foreshadow the possibility that a governmental entity might want to sell excess broadband capacity efficiently created by a single network installation.

In some cases, a municipality might want to offer such access to its citizens because none of the commercial providers have stepped to the plate. In other cases, the governmental entity might want to create a revenue stream that helps offset the costs of deploying and maintaining the broadband network.

Regardless of the reason, prohibiting governmental entities from offering broadband services could remove the political and economic justifications for such entities to make a capital investment in a broadband network. Many fire and police departments don’t have the budget to deploy 4.9 GHz networks, but it’s much easier to find that capital if the installation also provides a network other city employees can use and it can generate revenue — not to mention political goodwill from voters — through a commercial offering.

Of course, not all governmental entities looking at offering broadband services are small communities left behind in a dial-up-only world; some regions with cable and DSL alternatives have invested in fiber-to-the-premise networks, which really angers the telecom providers. Being forced to pay taxes and franchise fees to a governmental entity that is competing with you with no obligation to be profitable is hardly a pro-business environment.

For areas that lack broadband alternatives, however, it’s difficult to imagine Congress wanting to penalize such communities for taking a proactive approach to join the digital age. If President George W. Bush is serious about making broadband universally affordable by 2007, it’s doubtful that goal can be reached by relying solely on the private sector, which is only going to deploy services that provide value to shareholders.

In the end, don’t be surprised if this turns out to be one more card to be played in the high-stakes poker game known as the rewrite of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Remember, legislative nirvana for large telecom incumbents would be for Congress to enact legislation that limits local taxation and fees on their services, waive the need for video franchises and — most important — lift the heavy regulatory burdens.

Such legislation would hit local governmental entities in the pocketbook. Public safety should beware.

E-mail me at [email protected].

Tags: Call Center/Command Commentary Newsletters Mobile Data Commentary Policy Policy & Law Commentary

Most Recent


  • Ransomware, data breaches inundate OT & industrial sector
    Three-quarters of industrial firms suffered a ransomware attack in the past year, with far more compromises affecting operational technology (OT) than ever before — representing a surge in attacks driven by both the industrial sector’s vulnerability and propensity to pay ransoms in order to remain operational. In the past 12 months, more than half of […]
  • PSSA asks FCC for FirstNet Authority license at 4.9 GHz, opposes CERCI proposal
    A Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) filing this week reiterates its call for the FCC to award a nationwide license of 4.9 GHz  spectrum to the FirstNet Authority, ignoring a recent coalition filing that asks the commission to approve rules that would let local jurisdictions largely determine how the airwaves are used. Jeff Johnson, executive […]
  • Critical Bluetooth flaw exposes Android, Apple & Linux devices to takeover
    Attackers can exploit a critical Bluetooth security vulnerability that’s been lurking largely unnoticed for years on macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux device platforms. The keystroke injection vulnerability allows an attacker to control the targeted device as if they were attached by a Bluetooth keyboard, performing various functions remotely depending on the endpoint. Tracked as CVE-2023-45866, the flaw exists […]
  • Pro-Iran attackers access multiple water-facility controllers
    Critical infrastructure in multiple US states may have been compromised by Iran-affiliated attackers targeting programmable logic controllers (PLCs). A warning from the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Israel National Cyber Directorate comes after an attack was detected on a Pennsylvania water authority last week, where the […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Open-source tools for the IoT ecosystem
  • New Orleans-area 911 center inks multiyear APEX deal with Carbyne to replace call-handling system
  • Government broadband debate could affect more than consumers
    Newscan: Feds recover millions from pipeline ransom hackers, hint at U.S. Internet tactic
  • Cyber is the new Cold War, and AI is the arms race

Commentary


Things to know about IWCE 2024: The basics 

5th December 2023

Land mobile radio (LMR) systems are just as vulnerable to cyberattacks as any other networks used in the public-safety sector. Here’s what to do about it.

  • 2
7th November 2023

September 3GPP Plenary meetings feature Release 18 progress, Release 19 beginnings

13th October 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.