December 1, 2007

Senator Sanders Misses the Wireless Boat

Vermont's Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders is questioning Verizon's offer to buy Unicel, Vermont's second largest cell service provider after Verizon, and asking the FCC to impose some strict conditions on the sale. The Senator and his allies fail to see the potential benefits of a dominant provider (or two) in Vermont deploying their best 4G technology in the state in a few years. This technology could provide broadband access throughout the state. Perhaps Vermont could be a beta state for this technology.

Or, perhaps Vermont could encourage wireless providers to use some of the 700 MHz spectrum to be auctioned in January 2008 to provide broadband access to the whole state. See, the real issue here is that Vermont is a tough market to serve because it's small, dispersed, and slow to approve tower siting for full coverage given our tough topography. Perhaps there are some clever incentives that could lure providers. If not, some subsidies may be the only alternative. Pounding on the providers is not the answer

The Senator is also suggesting that the cell phone business become regulated at the state level. But that's what Socialism is, a government-controlled economy where companies do the bidding of those in power in government. The marketplace is the best option for a fast-paced technology based company. A regulated monopoly is a distant second choice.

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