[governance] Internet for All ... this time from the UK

[Roland Perry]

In message <4982AF97.5070606 at itforchange.net>, at 13:13:19 on Fri, 30 
Jan 2009, Guru <guru at itforchange.net> writes
>We have been hearing about the US Gov (FCC) plans to provide broadband 
>to all in the US, now there is a similar news item ... quote " We know 
>that every aspect of our lives in local communities - every school, 
>every hospital, every workplace and even every home - will be dependent 
>on the services that the digital network provides."

Some of the homes can only realistically be reached by mobile (ie 3G) 
broadband. Therefore a major reason for the initiative being 
'restricted' to "only" 2MB is because that's the highest speed that it's 
prudent to promise for such a connection.

>(though the report has been criticised by UK opposition for 'not doing 
>enough!!')...

That's because they think it's taking too long to make the decision to 
go ahead. This latest announcement is in effect "we plan to announce 
something later in the year" not "this is our announcement of what will 
happen". But it's still a step in the right direction.

And they see advertisements on TV for 50Mbps broadband, and read 
overoptimistic reports that "everyone in country $foo already has 
gigabit fibre to the home" and think 2Mbps is too slow (but see above).

So yes, this is "Internet for all", but it's important to separate the 
two different cases:

1) All the people, even those who can't afford it
2) All the people, even those living 10km from the nearest road
-- 
Roland Perry
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