Broadband of Brothers

Schwarzenegger: Free market best solution for broadband

Russ Steele

This from an article on c/Net News by Declan McCullagh

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up in Los Angeles on Tuesday to give a keynote speech at a state broadband conference, but didn't say much in his speech about broadband after all.

Although the event was held by the USC Annenberg School's Center for the Digital Future, Schwarzenegger spent most of his time talking about old-fashioned infrastructure, primarily roads, water, and levies in the Sacramento delta.

What he did say about broadband:

During a question-and-answer period afterwards, the governor did allude to a recent study from the Sacramento Regional Research Institute that estimated California could gain 1.8 million jobs a year--assuming that the broadband use of the state's population grew by 3.8 percentage points a year.

Schwarzenegger struck a free market note on how best to accomplish that. "I've been pushing the (Public Utilities Commission) in becoming much more aggressive in pushing broadband," he said. "If we get more out of the way"--that is, if the government doesn't interfere--it will "move technololgy forward in a free way."

Full article here.

Economic Effects of Increased Broadband Use in CA

Chuck Neeley

A new report out this month by the Sacramento Regional Research Institute speaks well of the economic impact of broadband, and forecasts incredible new job potential through 2010.  It is definitely worth reading, and can be found here:

http://www.srri.net/AboutUs/EconEffectsBB_Summary.pdf

Verizon Broadband User Report

Verizon Broadband User Report

Russ Steele

I cross posted information on the Verizon Broadband at NC Media Watch. A user posted this comment.

Russ, last month we upgraded our cellphones and contract with Verizon. The new Motorola's and accompanying service came with V CAST which we tried free for a week. We experienced a fair amount of spottiness along the roadways as well as in sections of Nevada City and Grass Valley so we decided not to continue with V CAST at least for now. The Verizon service map is pretty general and needs more fine tuning. In the meantime, I'm happy with my laptop and WiFi connections as they become more available in Nevada County.

I noted that Verizon on their web site allow a customer to try the  Broadband/Access for 30 days. Give it a try if you want to move away from dial up.

Good News - More Broadband

Russ Steele

I dropped by the Verizon Store to check on  the status of  their EVDO Broadband Service in the  local area, now called Broadband Access Connect. I was told they turned on their broadband service a little over a month ago.  You need a phone or computer card that has the Access Connect capability. Check it out!