Johnny Kampis
As government officials discuss the affordability of broadband, some regulators are helping contribute to the problem by implementing sky-high pole attachment fees, the cost of which tend to be passed onto the end consumer.
What are pole attachment fees? When an internet provider wants to access a pole owned by someone else – such as AT&T wanting to put its equipment on a pole owned by the local power provider – it has to pay a fee to gain that access. This has been standard operating procedure for many years.
A recent piece in the New Yorker discussing how the Biden administration can expand rural broadband noted the woes of Slic Network Solutions, a small broadband provider in New York State. Two years ago, shortly after that company received a $32 million grant from the state to service 9,200 residences in Adirondack Pack and surrounding areas, the state changed a rule on usage of utility poles. Suddenly, Slic had to pay a contractor to survey the poles and th
Guest Editorial Week of 2/22/2021
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Lowman S Henry: Tom Wolf, Bill Murray & Groundhog Day
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No new taxes : The same debate, 13 years later Patrick Henry, Times Writers Group © Times photo Patrick Henry
“There is nothing new under the sun.” – Ecclesiastes Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. – George Santayana
Write columns for a long time and you’ll see plenty of evidence for these maxims.
In July 2008, at the end of my first year in the Times Writers Group, my column was headlined “’No new taxes’ is not Minnesotan.” Howard Mohr s How to Speak Minnesotan had taught this mid-1980s transplant from Pennsylvania the basics – “You bet,” “That s different” and “Whatever” – and even finer points such as “It could be worse” and “Heckuva deal.”
Biden’s USPS electric fleet mandate shock to taxpayers
Ross Marchand - Contributing columnist
Over the past few months, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has seen more than its fair share of turmoil. Thousands of workers are quarantined, net losses remain stubbornly high ($9.2 billion last year), and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s long-overdue operational changes have been met with scorn and conspiracizing.
And now, President Joe Biden is adding to the agency’s angst by requiring (via executive order) that the agency operate a fleet of electric trucks. This move will make it even more difficult for the USPS to climb out of its steep fiscal shortfall and make a costly taxpayer bailout more likely. Biden should ditch his electrification plan and let America’s mail carrier choose the most cost-effective trucks to deliver for postal consumers.