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February 10, 2006
The Dogma of Municipal WiFi
When free-market libertarians and big-government liberals gang up on you, you might as well give it up.
If you think that the $353 million dollar public tax giveaway for the proposed Twins stadium is a sweet deal for billionaire Carl Pohlad—the richest owner in major league baseball—and a raw deal for the public, then you will cringe at what is poised to be an even more blatant act of corporate welfare: Minneapolis’ plan to outsource a citywide wireless (Wi-Fi) broadband network project that will provide internet access everywhere in the city.
This is not from an article in Reason. Quite the contrary, it’s the lead that kicks off a 2,000-word screed that serves as the cover story, "The Selling out of Public WiFi," in the current issue of Pulse the Twin Cities, a left-leaning alternative weekly in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Fresh from having to defend the Minneapolis WiFi plan against a St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial that questioned why the city government should be meddling in a functional market, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Ryback now must fend off attacks from the Left.
Ryback countered Pioneer Press criticism by stating the Minneapolis plan is a public-private partnership. No taxpayer money will fund it. The $25 million project will be managed by either EarthLink or U.S. Internet, the two finalists.
That’s precisely the problem, writes Aaron Neumann in Pulse, who’d rather see the City of Minneapolis shoulder the whole project itself, even though he freely admits in the article that, under the current plan, the city won’t have to battle bigger, stronger commercial Internet players, and, besides, has nowhere near $25 million lying around to fund such a venture.
But when you’re a muni loonie, practicalities don’t matter. We’ve already seen big-government liberals gang up on the San Francisco municipal wireless plan, which also seeks to outsource construction, management and ownership. It’s a growing trend. Municipal governments have considered the independent studies of the cost of ownership, like JupiterResearch’s finding that WiFi costs $150,000 per square mile over five years, the security liabilities inherent in wireless data networks and the competitive picture, and have wisely punted.
That’s what appalls the Left the most: they are losing another opportunity to increase the size and intrusiveness of government. For all they talk about bridging the digital divide, increasing broadband penetration and making cities “hip,” for the true believers such as Neumann, if the government isn’t doing broadband, they’d rather not see it done at all.
As with all forms of dogma, irony is lost. The reasons Neumann lists to fight the project – that it amounts to corporate welfare, that its finances won’t be transparent, that there will be no accountability for quality service, aren’t reasons to increase government involvement. They are reasons why governments should not be involved at all. I don’t think these "public-private" muni wireless franchises are a great idea, either, but they are far better than creating another city bureaucracy. In the end, I hope that most cities realize these broadband networks will expand without (or despite) cozy city arrangements.
I’ve spent time with state and local legislators, and even officials from muni wireless consultants such as Civitium. While we disagree on the fundamental principles behind municipal wireless and broadband, there is no question that their motives are driven by a desire to expand cheap, reliable Internet access. Still, as cities study the empirical costs of these ventures, most are wisely backing away from direct government ownership.
This has forced the muni loonies to raise the volume and, in the process, reveal their real agenda – and it has nothing to do with broadband. At heart, like much of the environmental movement, the “nutrition” police, and the anti-Wal-Mart “low-prices-hurt-the-poor” crowd, muni broadband activists are driven by an emotional, dogmatic antipathy for business. But such radical rhetoric doesn’t play well in City Hall. Dare we mention that Philadelphia, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., which along with Minneapolis, have outsourced “municipal” wireless, all have Democratic administrations. You can’t blame pro-business conservatives and libertarians for this one.
Posted by steve.titch at February 10, 2006 10:49 AM
I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten66666 at January 26, 2007 09:52 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten19087 at January 27, 2007 09:05 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten2955 at January 28, 2007 07:58 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten74346 at January 29, 2007 02:19 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten45092 at January 29, 2007 05:48 AM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten7792 at January 29, 2007 04:08 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten26678 at January 29, 2007 06:44 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten18697 at January 30, 2007 07:43 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten69357 at January 30, 2007 05:42 PM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten71823 at January 31, 2007 09:44 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten24580 at February 1, 2007 12:20 AM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten22349 at February 1, 2007 03:32 AM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten94678 at February 1, 2007 10:31 PM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten96385 at February 2, 2007 02:06 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten30519 at February 2, 2007 03:42 AM
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My life's been basically bland today. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. My mind is like an empty room. I've more or less been doing nothing to speak of. Not much on my mind recently.
Comment by: Sten19270 at February 2, 2007 04:45 PM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten12182 at February 4, 2007 02:14 AM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten86732 at February 4, 2007 03:19 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten86890 at February 4, 2007 06:45 AM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten13255 at February 4, 2007 04:48 PM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten32453 at February 5, 2007 06:55 AM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten15517 at February 5, 2007 03:12 PM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten42302 at February 5, 2007 07:07 PM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten61576 at February 5, 2007 09:16 PM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten84279 at February 5, 2007 10:43 PM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten55792 at February 6, 2007 12:00 AM
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