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5G -- It Ain't All That -- 5G Could Actually Make The 'Digital Divide' Worse [View all]
FCC boss Ajit Pai has repeatedly proclaimed that one of his top priorities is closing the "digital divide...most of his policies have had the exact opposite effect. From rubber stamping competition-eroding mergers, to eliminating consumer protections governing broadband, the lion's share of Pai's agenda has focused on what telecom giants want...
[TV ads tell us] ... America will soon be awash in a new layer of inexpensive broadband connectivity and innovation.
The problem: 5G isn't magic, and the technology won't fix the rot that plagues the U.S. broadband sector. It won't fix
-- the fact we approve mergers that directly contribute to higher prices and weaker markets. It won't fix
-- the lack of competition in the fiber lines that feed cellular towers, which also contributes to higher rates. It also won't fix
-- the fact that FCC policy and telecom lobby positions are virtually indistinguishable.
...contrary to carrier claims, you're still going to have patchy availability as carriers focus on the most profitable areas, despite countless billions in taxpayer subsidies.
5G's technical accomplishments don't mean all that much if the underlying structure is rotten, and US telecom is, if you haven't spent time on the phone talking to telecom customer service lately, very rotten indeed.
And in some instances, 5G may actually make the digital divide worse. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance, for example, is correct to note that
-- the low-income families we profess to love can't afford new, far more expensive handsets, or the even higher rates companies like Verizon intend to charge users to access these networks.
-- Telecom giants (and the current FCC) do yeoman's work focusing on unhelpful and silly "race" rhetoric, hoping to steer the conversation away from the subject that matters most to low-income families stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide -- price.
you'll notice [Ajit Pai] will go out of his way to avoid acknowledging high US telecom prices ... because that conversation leads to another conversation these folks really don't want to have: the regulatory capture and lack of competition in U.S. broadband that's causing the problem in the first place.
[TV ads tell us] ... America will soon be awash in a new layer of inexpensive broadband connectivity and innovation.
The problem: 5G isn't magic, and the technology won't fix the rot that plagues the U.S. broadband sector. It won't fix
-- the fact we approve mergers that directly contribute to higher prices and weaker markets. It won't fix
-- the lack of competition in the fiber lines that feed cellular towers, which also contributes to higher rates. It also won't fix
-- the fact that FCC policy and telecom lobby positions are virtually indistinguishable.
...contrary to carrier claims, you're still going to have patchy availability as carriers focus on the most profitable areas, despite countless billions in taxpayer subsidies.
5G's technical accomplishments don't mean all that much if the underlying structure is rotten, and US telecom is, if you haven't spent time on the phone talking to telecom customer service lately, very rotten indeed.
And in some instances, 5G may actually make the digital divide worse. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance, for example, is correct to note that
-- the low-income families we profess to love can't afford new, far more expensive handsets, or the even higher rates companies like Verizon intend to charge users to access these networks.
-- Telecom giants (and the current FCC) do yeoman's work focusing on unhelpful and silly "race" rhetoric, hoping to steer the conversation away from the subject that matters most to low-income families stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide -- price.
you'll notice [Ajit Pai] will go out of his way to avoid acknowledging high US telecom prices ... because that conversation leads to another conversation these folks really don't want to have: the regulatory capture and lack of competition in U.S. broadband that's causing the problem in the first place.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200204/07071543850/5g-could-actually-make-digital-divide-worse.shtml?fbclid=IwAR3a-5sakFQ7QVH-40CK5ICvCGlkNcK1KC4oCRrPq5QHxXvo7gq_GWs0Hdc
Pricing. Monopolization. Corporate Socialism. That's 5G's platform.
We subsidize global network dominance. So yeah, let's add another reason for the world to distrust, if not hate, us. Our govt (bad cop) be like "resistance is futile." Tech (good cop) be like "look how much better we make life!"
Both on our dime.
https://i.insider.com/5c87ab3526289853a678306d?width=1100&format=jpeg&auto=webp
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