MuniWireless

The conventional wisdom among my friends who are Net Neutrality fanatics is that a change of regime will finally bring about tough net neutrality legislation, ushering in a Golden Age of cutthroat competition in the US market for broadband services, leading to faster speeds, lower monthly costs for Internet access, no throttling, no deep packet inspection, no blocking of applications and so on.

I have serious doubts about my friends’ fantasies, especially after reading this AP news article which reports that AT&T has a huge presence at the Democratic Convention: “It is virtually everywhere, wining and dining delegates and members of Congress with a relentless schedule of luncheons and evening parties. AT&T has the most high-profile corporate presence in Denver . . .” Of course, they’re probably wining and dining our friends in Washington DC all the time so doing it in Denver means only business as usual.

While you and I may cast our votes in November in the hope that US broadband will stop its precipitous decline into oblivion in comparison to other countries, our elected officials may not necessarily be thinking of our generous support when it comes time to pass laws that mean true net neutrality and open access.

Muniwireless readers are a cynical lot: 53% say that an Obama Administration will NOT mean cheaper, faster broadband (see poll on the right side of the page).