(While this is a national and not a state-focused story, I think everyone on this site will be interested to hear about ways to move toward the goal of universal access. Think about how this could impact local blogs if so many more people in this state could use the Internet, particularly in those underserved areas. It would open up the conversation to include everyone. There's more at my site.)
This is the "chicken in every pot" for the 21st century. And as you will see, it's extremely doable and completely worthwhile for American competition, entrepreneurship and technological advancement.
In short, the FCC is about to auction off a portion of the broadband spectrum. All the major telcos like Verizon and AT&T are expected to bid on the prime real estate. But John Edwards has a better idea. He wants to have the FCC use that spectrum to increase Internet access for all Americans, young or old, rich or poor. This is the text of his letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin:
President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Aaron Peskin spoke at a packed meeting of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club yesterday, and here are some of the things he said:
He opened by calling the current Board of Supervisors the most progressive 6 years stretch of the Board ever, but emphasized that we need to ensure that when he and three other members of the 2000 Progressive Sweep are termed out in 2008, the people we elect are at least as progressive as the outgoing Supervisors. "Chris Daly thinks we can trade up", he said, but we need to start now recruiting good candidates to run.
I'm a bit out of reach these days, but I wanted to point out Sasha's excellent work at Left in SF on the San Francisco municipal wireless debate. Check out all of his posts here and his wrapup of the debate here. There's going to be a hearing on the program this afternoon, and I've heard Sasha will be involved. I know Google and Earthlink are fighting to preserve the sweetheart deal, but we need to do what's best for The City, and whether that's municipal wifi or GoogleFi, the residents of SF should come first. Let's just make sure we get this right.
So, if you're in SF, thank Sasha for doing such a great job for us on this issue.
