Hillary Clinton Wants All Americans To Be Equipped With High-Speed Internet Access By 2020

[think]

Hillary Clinton Wants All Americans To Be Equipped With High-Speed Internet Access By 2020

By Mark Lelinwalla, Tech Times | December 2, 10:30 AM

If Hillary Clinton has her way, all Americans will get to experience the power of high-speed Internet access.

That's precisely why the 2016 presidential hopeful has rolled out with her plans to empower all Americans with faster broadband connections, as part of her five-year, $275 billion infrastructure blueprint.

"It means giving all American households access to world-class broadband and creating connected 'smart cities' with infrastructure that's part of tomorrow's Internet of Things," Clinton's plan says.

The blueprint adds: "High-speed internet access is not a luxury; it is a necessity for equal opportunity and social mobility in a 21st century economy."..

Full article:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/112856/20151202/hillary-clinton-americans-equipped-high-speed-internet-access-2020.htm

[RandySF]

1. But, but

Internet providers stand to make money from this and that just gives me the vapors!!!

[Armstead]

15. If they make obscene amounts of money by gouging the public it SHOULD giove you the vapors

[PeoViejo]

2. Who is going to pay for all this?

People who get high-speed Internet. I would rather hear: Free, unrestricted Internet.

So, everyone has to pay-into the Internet Grid?

[Blue_Adept]

3. I thought all her positions were ripped off from Bernie weeks after he made them

[think]

4. She's moved to the left & adopted positions of Bernie's and that's well understood.

But yes she has original ideas and positions like this one.

[pinebox]

35. Not really an original idea

https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/3plbtw/has_bernie_said_anything_about_fiberbroadband/

[think]

38. I happily stand corrected!

I must admit I completely missed any news about this. Thank you!

[Armstead]

16. It's centrist nothing

Empowering the market and all the usual stuff that's code for keep the information infrastructure as a privatized commodity.

[BlueCaliDem]

5. This would be wonderful! Our friends in Holland have 100 mbps while I struggle to get 20 mbps

via ATT Uverse. 100 mbps is currently only available to businesses and corporations in this country.

So Hillary Clinton is proposing a no-no. As a rumored corporatist, she's not playing ball. After all, she wants high-speed internet access for everyone (just like in Europe) rather than just for Big Corp and Big Business. SO out of character.

[LiberalArkie]

9. Actually the phone companies have been given the money already to build out the network

but they built out the network for business and never had the intention to build out for residences. Seems that it wasn't required in the bill. Opps.

[think]

12. Ya. The phone companies did screw over the US tax payer pretty good. It sucks that they would be

part of this.

Just once it would be nice to see companies that have a moral compass getting assistance from the government to do things like this.

[BlueCaliDem]

14. I know. That's why I mentioned that businesses and corporations have 100 mbps download speeds. My

daughter told me this when she worked as an attorney assistant. I was envious, of course, although my 20 mbps download and 4 mbps upload speeds aren't anything to sneeze at, but it's visibly slower when we Skype with friends in Holland. They have 100 mbps!

This new bill that she's proposing would most likely require that internet/phone companies avail the same high-speed internet service to residential customers. Even if I wanted to buy a package with higher internet speed from ATT Uverse, I can only go up to 50 mbps! That's the highest they offer for residential customers.

IMO, this is discrimination. Oh, and big business and corporations pay less per month than residential customers, too.

I'm wondering if I'll have to buy a new desktop (I don't like laptops) should that happen, just to keep up with the higher speed, or if upgrading to Windows 10 should be enough? I currently have Windows 7 Professional, and like it a lot. I tried Windows 10, but I didn't like it (don't like Windows 8, either). But it ain't stopping Microsoft from forcing me to download Windows 10! I get the message every morning. *sigh*

[LiberalArkie]

18. The FCC mandated that earlier this year and already put out the funds to the

internet providers for a new round of build out. AT&T and Verizon are fighting the speed mandate of 25mb? download (I think). I know that Windstream is doing another massive buildout in rural Arkansas already. They have some areas where they are offering the 100mb DSL already. They have installed a new DSLAM on my road, but it is not turned up yet.

So the money is there apparently, just that some of the phone companies don't want to do it. Like Verizon was saying that they were spending like $300 per month per wireline customer in the NE, but the union pointed out that they were really only spending 3 cents per month per customer.

[BlueCaliDem]

40. "Verizon was saying that they were spending like $300 per month per wireline customer in the NE...

but the union pointed out that they were really only spending 3 cents per month per customer."

And are they still getting away with this gouging?? I bet they're spending $300 per month per customer - on executive perks and bonuses.

I don't mind businesses making a 40% profit margin, but a markup of nearly one million percent! That's ridiculous!

Luckily, in Hillary Clinton's infrastructure plan, there will be enhanced accountability "so that taxpayers get more bang for their buck for every dollar they invest in infrastructure".

[bunnies]

24. Not playing ball? Are you kidding?

At $80.00 a month per household, Im sure Comcast is over the moon!

[BlueCaliDem]

25. You must've missed this part of the article...or didn't read it at the link in the OP:

"It means giving all American households access to world-class broadband and creating connected ‘smart cities’ with infrastructure that’s part of tomorrow’s Internet of Things," her plan says. By 2020, she says she'll bring affordable broadband with "sufficient" speeds to all American households, and with that wider internet access, she’ll push broadband providers to fight for their customers with lower prices.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/1/9826962/hillary-clinton-infrastructure-internet-plan

So no. She's not playing ball.

[Armstead]

28. Will she ask them to "cut it out" again?

[BlueCaliDem]

30. Nice of you to chime in, Armstead.

[Armstead]

34. Happy to be of service

[BlueCaliDem]

41. As always.

[bunnies]

45. What does "affordable" mean to a person who thinks $250k / year is middle class?

Im sure $80.00 a month is nothing to them.

[BlueCaliDem]

47. I don't know. I'm certain, though, that they'll use the Federal poverty level as a guide.

The idea is to get high-speed broadband to everyone, and that, I would think, would include low income families who believe $80 a month is a lot of money.

[bunnies]

48. I hope so.

Im fortunate enough (now) to be above the poverty line but the price they charge for internet access is outrageous. Between that and the severe lack of competition, internet providers are free to soak us at will. I do hope that changes.

[BlueCaliDem]

49. Me, too, bunnies. I have friends who can't afford the $60-$80 dollars a month for internet

access and go to the library when they need to be online - or my house. It breaks my heart to see people who work so hard have so little spendable income.

Luckily, California's minimum wage is going to rise from $9 to $10 starting next month. It's still not enough, I know, but we're already seeing individual cities passing mandatory minimum wage laws, raising them incrementally, until it reaches $15 dollars by 2020.

[bunnies]

50. Not too long ago I was making $11.00 an hour...

And it was brutal (as a single person) to get by on that.
I feel for your friends. Its a miserable, depressing and makes you feel like less of a person. Imagine how much better off we'd be as a country if no one felt like that?

Im glad to hear about the increases in CA. We need them everywhere. Badly.

[BlueCaliDem]

53. A minimum wage should be at least $15 in States like California, and a living wage should

be about ten dollars more just to live a little comfortably. $11 an hour is tough, even for a single person, and in CA it's impossible for anyone really to live on.

I feel for your friends. Its a miserable, depressing and makes you feel like less of a person. Imagine how much better off we'd be as a country if no one felt like that?

Thank you, bunnies. One of my friends has been a single mother of two and has lived on minimum wage taking on two sometimes three jobs just to make ends meet. She never had a day off. I babysat her little ones until they were old enough to be on their own. I did this without asking a dime because she was struggling so hard. Now her daughter and her are both working and doing okay, but it's still tough. This shouldn't be happening in one of the richest countries in the world. But I love her spirit. She never lets anything get her down! I love that about her.

Im glad to hear about the increases in CA. We need them everywhere. Badly.

So am I! It's about time, though. It's actually long past time, but we'll take what we can get! I hope California will set the pace for the rest of the country - soon.

[bunnies]

55. A single mother of two?

Thats just wrong. Raising two kids on minimum wage with no days off.... its infuriating. I cant imagine having the will or the strength to get through something like that. And the fact that Republicans want to make it HARDER for her to survive?! I cant comprehend what makes those people so heartless and evil.

We need more people like you and your friend in this world. She's lucky to have you.

[Thinkingabout]

6. Hillary has given a plan for the future, improve the infrastructure which will benefit

Citizens of the US.

[BlueCaliDem]

42. And it's a pretty tight plan, too!

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/p/briefing/factsheets/2015/11/30/clinton-infrastructure-plan-builds-tomorrows-economy-today/

[LiberalArkie]

7. The FCC has already called for it and AT&T and Verizon took billions to do it, but

they just took the money and really did nothing. If I am not mistaken the money is already allocated to do it from the rural subsidy on the phone bills.

[ibegurpard]

8. Oh and how does she plan to pay for that?

[TM99]

11. Well she can't raise taxes now

given her current campaign rhetoric.

So I imagine it will involve tax credits to ISP's and the like in order to provide means tested discounts to the very poor. The very rich will be fine, but the middle class as usual will be screwed. Think Obamacare as internet access.

But hey that is just a guess based on what she has thus far been proposing.

[think]

13. Who knows. I'm sure Bernie could propose something better and clearly lay out how to pay for it.

But it's good to see Hillary talking about it even if her plan isn't perfect. It's better than nothing which is the GOP plan.

That said I would rather see what Bernie might come up with.

[ibegurpard]

22. talking about it is unacceptable

According to Camp Weathervane....even when a plan HAS been put forward to pay for it. So I'll ask again...how does she plan to pay for it?

[think]

26. Beats me. Maybe one of her supporters would care to give you an answer.

I appreciate you asking important questions. I just have no answer.

[BlueCaliDem]

44. If you were truly interested and not so busy being divisive, you can follow the link in the OP

and click on the link inside the article there. It's how I found her plan, how she plans to have it paid for, and what it entails.

But apparently it's so much more fun to resort to labeling and name-calling than actually making the effort of clicking links.

[MineralMan]

10. A very worthy goal.

I'm glad to hear that she's behind that.

[ibegurpard]

29. Goals are bad

According to Camp Weathervane.
Only if there is a concrete plan to pay for it and a road map to moving it through a Republican controlled congress is it a good thing. So, according to her supporters' own logic, she has done a bad thing here.
I'll ask again...what's her plan to pay for it?

[Baitball Blogger]

17. Easier for outside sources to tap into your services without your notice.

Am I cynical, or what?

Wish there was an organization that could check to see if our illustrious providers are colluding with sources that are contrary to Civil Rights guidelines. Hell, just recently I changed the password on my email and when I couldn't get into my account, I called the email provider and the helpful assistant told me letter by letter what the new password was.

Wake up. We are living in Orwell's 1984.

[Armstead]

19. One of the good things Obama did was publicly fund broadband in Massachusetts

As part of the Recovery Act funding, the government provided funds to Massachusetts to publicly build Internet broadband "pipes" in the rural western part of the state.

It was contracted out to private management, but it is public infrastructure and accountable to the state. Many towns are now developing the equivalent of municipal co-operatives to build and manage the "last mile service" of cables from the main one.

That's how this should be done everywhere -- as a public utility, rather than relying on the good graces of private telcomm companies.

[Chan790]

20. Affordability, not infrastructure, is the current impediment for most people w/o high-speed internet

So, while I think it's an admirable goal, it seems like she's attacking the wrong impediment. If we had 100% coverage of technology...we'd still have almost as many people for whom the high-speed internet was just as out-of-reach as it is now. Internet costs in the US are horrible for services that are sub-par to most of the developed world.

Internet, like cable and phone, needs to be re-regulated as a utility so that price-controls may be effected and suppliers may be held to standards on quality of service.

[BlueCaliDem]

46. She addresses affordability in her plan. Click on the link in the OP and then click "has unveiled"

in the article there that will take you to her plan....and all your questions will be answered.

Keep in mind, this is a PLAN not a bill. Since infrastructure falls under domestic policy, it's up to Congress to draft a suitable bill based on what she's outlined in her plan (and most likely has already drafted a congressional bill for them). This plan is for us laymen/women to read and understand what she plans to do.

[JaneyVee]

21. K AND R!

[bunnies]

23. At $80.00 a month it damn sure IS a luxury.

Anything going to get done about that?

[valerief]

27. Equipping everyone with high-speed internet access? So it will be free to us? nt

[sibelian]

32. THAT'S a good idea.

If she had more like this, it would be better.

[pinebox]

33. Bernie's $1 trillion infrastructure project includes it

And came out in January of this year
http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/public/index.cfm/blog?ID=3d1eef89-1dcb-491b-8f10-5cf22fd9c313

It will also invest $5 billion a year to expand high-speed broadband networks into underserved and unserved areas, and to boost speeds and capacity in served areas.

[think]

37. Thank you for pointing that out. I completely missed it.

[pinebox]

43. You're welcome :)

[angrychair]

36. Following Bernie's lead again

Bernie has been talking about this for years and has proposed an infrastructure bill, Rebuild America Act, several months ago, to address high speed Internet access in rural and poor communities.

[think]

39. I forgot that he introduced that legislation. Thank you for reminding me!

[randys1]

51. All internet access must be free and the speeds must be the highest in the world.

AT a minimum.

NOt sure if she is suggesting we do away with for profit internet providers.

Having a for profit industry deal with something you cant survive without, is stupid, unless you regulate the shit out of it and take much of the profit out of it.

[Phlem]

52. I think this might be moot once the TPP kicks in.

Yea I have supa fast internet connection! To bad the internet will be censored by then.

[Skeeter Barnes]

54. Prepare to be underwhelmed and overcharged.

[olddots]

56. imagine if America could have high speed brains by 2220

I could use internet that didn't go out 4 times a day and a brain that wasn't on vacation .