The Trump administration is telling states they will be shut out of a $42 billion broadband deployment fund if they set the rates that Internet service providers receiving subsidies are allowed to charge people with low incomes.
The latest version of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) FAQ on the grant program, released today, is a challenge to states considering laws that would force Internet providers to offer cheap plans to people who meet income eligibility guidelines. One state already has such a law: New York requires ISPs with over 20,000 customers in the state to offer $15 broadband plans with download speeds of at least 25Mbps, or $20-per-month service with 200Mbps speeds.
We’ve already paid for nationwide broadband, and the corpos took the money, did a fraction of the work, and called it done. I don’t see what this latest infusion of cash-to-corpos is going to do for the average Joe.
The USA isn’t run by or for the average Joe. Average Joes are human resources to be mined, plundered, exploited and discarded as their rulers see fit.
We didn’t just pay for it, we also gave up the public TV spectrum in order to make it happen. That’s why your old-school TV antennas won’t work anymore.
Technically the antennas work, it’s the old tuners that don’t. Plug rabbit ears into a smart TV you’ll get whatever stations are left now.
Who gives a fuck what the average Joe wants? If they aren’t in the donor class, fuck 'em.