I think we're on the same page. Access to capital isn't usually the issue. If there's a sustainable business case for building a network somewhere, then a bank will loan money for it, or someone can find an investor. I have worked on grant funded fixed-wireless projects, and one question that I never saw an answer for is what are you going to do in 5 years or so when you need to upgrade everything? Get another grant? The reality is they won't keep up with increasing consumption and it will turn to suck. Brian Webster lives in one of those areas so I imagine he knows what I'm talking about.
They either need to emulate the universal service methods used for electrification and telephone, or they need to stop throwing money at it. Poop or get off the pot. I think there's an arguable case for either direction, but I'd prefer the "stop throwing money at it" approach mostly because I don't want to deal with the regulatory stuff that LECs have to deal with. Obviously my selfish bias is right there in the open. -Adam ________________________________ From: AF on behalf of Ken Hohhof Sent: Friday, March 21, 2025 12:24 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' Subject: Re: [AFMUG] BEAD It seems like they are trying to replicate rural electrification, or the interstate highway system. The problem is, with Internet technology, if it takes government money 5-10 years to plan and build it, the problem has solved itself by then. Or the government funded solution is obsolete by then. Yes, I know that’s why the preference for fiber, because glass is supposedly future proof. And I am somewhat receptive to that argument, but back to the fact that much of the broadband availability problem has already solved itself since 2022 and BEAD hasn’t built anything yet. And I believe it would be solving itself faster if ISPs weren’t waiting to see where the government money goes. Why build it with your own money, if you can get a subsidy? Or if someone else will get a subsidy and render your investment worthless. From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> On Behalf Of Adam Moffett Sent: Friday, March 21, 2025 11:14 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <af@af.afmug.com> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] BEAD That's fine, but why fund satellite? It's already built, and people can already buy it. The point is to get them something better. ________________________________ From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com<mailto:af-boun...@af.afmug.com>> on behalf of Steve Jones <thatoneguyst...@gmail.com<mailto:thatoneguyst...@gmail.com>> Sent: Friday, March 21, 2025 11:40 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <af@af.afmug.com<mailto:af@af.afmug.com>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] BEAD they should not allow fixed wireless, they never should have allowed technology with a short shelf life On Thu, Mar 20, 2025 at 9:17 AM Adam Moffett <dmmoff...@gmail.com<mailto:dmmoff...@gmail.com>> wrote: Well.... https://bsky.app/profile/craigsilverman.bsky.social/post/3lkiye5n2dk2p https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/s/seq3uoU1L5 The director of BEAD quit. He says the previous rules interpreted the bill to mean that only FTTH would meet the performance and future-proofing requirements. He is claiming that there are proposed rule changes that will allow Starlink but not allow fixed wireless. I don't know whether the changes intentionally benefit Starlink, but this guy is crying foul and felt strongly enough about it to resign over it. -Adam ________________________________ From: AF on behalf of Ken Hohhof Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2025 12:19 AM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' Subject: [AFMUG] BEAD I’m surprised BEAD hasn’t run into problems because the E stands for Equity and DEI is now banned. But if they eliminate the E, would it just be BAD? -- AF mailing list AF@af.afmug.com<mailto:AF@af.afmug.com> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
-- AF mailing list AF@af.afmug.com http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
