this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
596 points (99.2% liked)

Technology

59571 readers
5571 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
L3s
[email protected]
[email protected]
L4s
enu
596
US broadband grant rules shut out small ISPs and municipalities, advocates say (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 year ago by DannyMac to c/technology
63 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The biggest Internet service providers will dominate a $42.45 billion broadband grant program unless the Biden administration changes a rule requiring grant recipients to obtain a letter of credit from a bank, according to a joint statement from consumer advocacy groups, local government officials, and advocates for small ISPs.

The letter sent today to US government officials argues that "by establishing capital barriers too steep for all but the best-funded ISPs, the LOC [letter-of-credit requirement] shuts out the vast majority of entities the program claims to prioritize: small and community-centered ISPs, minority and women-owned ISPs, nonprofits, and municipalities."

The rule is part of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program that's being administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Maybe this time we can learn from our mistakes and nationalize such industries instead of breaking them up and forcing needless competition.

The competition should be for the job. If someone else can do the job better, then you get replaced. It's a simple concept, lol. But capitalists have convinced people that public ownership is bad. That way, people spend enough to keep the businesses operational, in addition to funneling as much money as possible to the owners.