HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-21-19 Public Comment - P. Williams - Corporate ISPsFrom:agenda@bozeman.net
To:Agenda
Subject:Thank you for your public comment.
Date:Monday, October 21, 2019 3:11:53 PM
A new entry to a form/survey has been submitted.
Form Name:Public Comment Form
Date & Time:10/21/2019 3:11 PM
Response #:293
Submitter ID:21356
IP address:174.45.255.218
Time to complete:15 min. , 1 sec.
Survey Details
Page 1
Public comment may be submitted via the form below, or by any of the following options.
Public comment may also be given at any public meeting.
Email:
agenda@bozeman.net
Mail to:
Attn: City Commission
PO Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771
In-person delivery to:
Attn: City Commission
City Clerk's Office
City Hall, Suite 202
121 N. Rouse Ave.
Bozeman, MT
First Name Philip
Last Name Williams
Email Address philip.williams@montana.edu
Phone Number 406-570-7432
Comments
My corporate ISP monthly broadband internet bill from Spectrum has increased in cost much faster than
my residential-service bills for other utilities such as water & sewer, trash & recycle pick-up, electric power
and natural gas. The main reasons for this, in my view:
1) Corporate ISPs are insufficiently regulated even though they enjoy extreme pricing power as monopolies
in smaller cities like Bozeman or duopolies in some larger cities;
2) The FCC has fallen victim to the widespread corporate capture of federal regulating agencies such as the
FCC since 2017 in particular, as long-time Verizon corporate lawyer Ajit Pai was appointed FCC head. Over
the protest of the vast majority of non-bot public submissions on the Net Neutrality issue, the Pai-led FCC
gutted Title II Net Neutrality rules in a straight 3-2 party line vote;
3) Corporate ISPs invariably prioritize profits and inflating their share price over consumer interests, thus
spending immense amounts of money to flood the airwaves and fill people's mailboxes with ISP
advertisements; each month I watch at least 10 Spectrum video commercials and receive at least 3 pieces
of mailed-in advertisements to buy more services from Spectrum--all these advertising costs are passed on
to consumers, who have absolutely no say whatsoever over these terrible business practices;
4) Customer service is a low priority for corporate ISPs, as can be seen by the majority of low ratings that
Spectrum has received on consumer affairs websites. So price-gouging is an attractive option for corporate
ISPs whose consumer ratings could not drop much lower than their already low level.
5) Unless there is a public option or municipal ISP available, such as in Chattanooga, TN, the corporate ISP
enjoys an effective monopoly without any of the rigorous regulation over traditional utility companies like
Northwest Energy.
6) Corporate ISPs and telecoms have already lobbied many state legislatures to pass laws that place various
unreasonable restrictions on public ISPs or other non-profit broadband internet services in municipalities,
as a result of corporate-funded far-right lobbying groups such as ALEC (American Legislative Exchange
Council).
7) Corporate ISPs are proven to have throttled back the speed of internet connection in order to market
their fast-lane or "premium" internet service, which Spectrum has already introduced as a $20 surcharge
over its already high $70 per-month charge for standard internet service. California firefighters suffered a
calamitous loss of communication this past summer due to ISP throttling of their internet connections.
8) The $70 monthly charge is already approximately three times as expensive as what my friends in
Germany pay for internet of equal or faster speed.
Finally, I would like to request that the Bozeman City Commission fully support the municipal broadband
organization in Bozeman in its future expansion beyond non-profit education and for-profit business
customers to include residential customers, especially in neighborhoods close to existing customers such as
MSU and various downtown businesses.
Bozeman urgently needs a public, non-profit alternative to price-gouging corporate ISPs like Spectrum.
Thank you.
If you would like to submit additional documents (.pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .gif, .jpg, .png, .rtf, .txt)
along with your comment, you may alternately address agenda@bozeman.net directly to ensure
receipt of all information.
Thank you,
City Of Bozeman
This is an automated message generated by the Vision Content Management System™. Please do not reply
directly to this email.