www.dadeinfo.com

EDITORIAL: Does not compute
by Rome News-Tribune

MANY POLITICIANS contend that the private sector can do a better job overall — costs, results — than government. Quite true a great deal of time. However, if this is so then government being in the same “business” as some in free enterprise should be no problem.

After all, on a level playing field would not the private-sector all-stars kick government’s lineup of scrubs in the rear and run them out of the business by superior performance, lower costs and so forth?

In this light, there’s a bill kicking around in the General Assembly, the “Broadband Investment Equity Act,” that requires a much deeper examination. It is about making it extremely difficult for local government to provide broadband internet services. If government can’t do it better, then why worry?

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, believes his SB 313 would force government to “play by the same rules” as private providers in seeking to serve a local area such as Rome, Cave Spring, unincorporated Floyd County and so forth.

In arguing that taxes should not underwrite competition with a private-sector rival he is correct, although his measure hardly stops there. And, as Amy Henderson of the Georgia Municipal Association observed based on known experiences: “When cities were getting involved in broadband, it was because private industry would not come there. Without that technology, they were economically disadvantaged. We feel like it is an option cities should have.”

ROGERS appears among those who still live in a smoke-signal world and do not yet grasp that certain technological “products” are not optional. In the smoke-signal tribal lands, water would be a good example. That is rather typically a government “enterprise” activity paid for in full by the actual customers (rate payers). Many citizens still can’t grasp this, but no “taxes” go to pay for city/county water. Moreover, many wouldn’t have it at all were it not a common need for which government found a common solution.

Similarly, many local governments with foresight (Rome at the time not being among them) made “enterprises” out of utilities such as electricity and natural gas when they first appeared. Dalton and Cartersville are among such early adapters and now — many citizens don’t grasp this either — use the “profits” from their rate payers to keep things like property taxes abnormally low for the entire community.

Rogers argues that some communities, such as Marietta, tried to get in this internet business and lost their shirts. True enough, but others have done very well (LaGrange) and seen their “universal access” bring in a lot of other business. The problem is not with local government seeking to make sure its community has something that, like water, is increasingly essential but in assuring that taxes from those who simply can’t get it (like Floyd Countians far, far from water lines) don’t have to pay for those other folks.

KEEPING government out of technological progress is not the answer at all. Nor is the demand in Rogers’ measure forcing governments to always seek a private vendor first and then, if the government still insists on doing the job, requiring a referendum to get voter approval. To be fair, Rogers should at least require that if AT&T or Comcast want to offer broadband service (as they do in Greater Rome under government-granted franchises) then the people would have to agree first in an election. Heck, maybe the public would prefer to hold out for Cox or Time-Warner.

Rogers’ proposal is similar to one that “free enterprise” Republican forces shoved down North Carolina’s throat last year and that drew volumes of realistic objections from actual experts in the field — including private companies selling computer products but not broadband access.

As Ms. Henderson said, without government becoming a “player” it is likely that profit-motivated private companies, who need a certain volume of customers to make money, will never reach their services out into sparsely populated areas ... like much of Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama. And sometimes government jumping in first and proving the venture is viable (as Tifton did) then wakes up private companies and gets them to rush to the scene to get a piece of the action (as in Tifton).

HENCE, IT IS probably a good thing that, if passed, Rogers’ measure would not kick in until after June 30, 2012 and everything existing earlier would be “grandfathered in.”

After winning a $21 million federal grant, a public/private alliance is right now building out a fiber-optic broadband network in Floyd, Gordon, Bartow, Chattooga, Polk, Walker, Dade, Paulding and Haralson counties in Georgia and Calhoun, Clay and Cleburne counties in Alabama that will allow a potential 144,082 households and 8,327 businesses to have high-speed connections.

What Rogers proposes is like issuing a state edict that only toll road companies should have first dibs on building any new highway or street.

IT ALSO in effect will grant something approaching monopoly status to those big private players (with deep campaign contribution pockets) that already dominate the scene and provide services mostly with profit in mind — not the public need for the service. If water were left to private hands either some of us would not have it, particularly in poorer neighborhoods, or we might be paying quite a bit more for it than the current “at cost” price set by government.

In arguing against the North Carolina law, as he doubtless would against the Georgia proposal, the leading legal authority on all matters internet — Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Harvard — pointed out facts that many Americans do not know: Our access to broadband is anemic by the standards of most of our main economic rivals; our average broadband speeds are way slower than found in Europe, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere. In those nations their governments, as well as private companies, have been involved and working together — not as supposed competitors. Not so much true here and, as more and more commerce is conducted via broadband, Americans have steadily become snails racing to stay even with dragonflies.

TO THE EXTENT that Rogers might wish to make sure that public and private entities can compete in an area of general citizen services as equals, he has a case to make. To the extent that he appears to wish to put one in chains while giving the other wings, he is wrong. The only guiding principle should be telling any interested: “Y’all come.”

Rogers needs to rethink this one and leave open all doors — private and public — that seek to let Americans pass through into the future.

Read more: RN-T.com - EDITORIAL Does not compute