Whereas, many employment ads can only be found or responded to online; and
Whereas, obtaining unemployment benefits online provides more time for job seekers to be out finding jobs; and
Whereas, affordable, high-speed broadband service has become essential to work and life; and
Whereas, affordable, high-speed broadband service is vital for attracting high-paying, knowledge-worker jobs; and
Whereas, North Carolina has fallen behind other states in broadband access, ranking 41st out of the 50 states; and
Whereas, cable bills continue to rise at a rate that far outpaces inflation; and
Whereas, many of North Carolina's rural residents have no access high-speed broadband service; and
Whereas, fiber Internet provides near-limitless capacity for growth, and now even China has more homes wired for fiber than the U.S does; and
Whereas, some North Carolina municipalities have built their own fiber broadband networks to serve their citizens when commercial providers would not; and
Whereas, Rep. Avila's H129 and Senator Apodaca's S87, the so-called "Level Playing Field" bill, sponsored by the large cable and phone companies, will have the effect of shutting down North Carolina's existing, and curtailing new, municipal fiber broadband networks and permanently removing any real broadband competition in the state; and
Whereas, H129/S87 will prevent public/private partnerships in the deployment of broadband, including Google Fiber, for which more than 40 NC communities applied, and
Whereas, these bills will limit our state to being served by the outdated broadband infrastructure provided by the state's large cable and telcos companies, or, for our rural areas, no broadband service at all.
Therefore, we the undersigned oppose, and ask the General Assembly to oppose, H129 and S87 because these bills will deny us broadband, jobs and investment in our state by leaving the residents and businesses of North Carolina at the mercy of its large cable and telephone companies who are NOT investing in advanced broadband in our state, and especially not in our rural areas. We demand the General Assembly change its focus to getting its citizens and businesses more broadband in North Carolina, not less.
Updates
February 24, 2011
I just looked at the screen and saw we hit a hundred signatures which is honestly more than I thought would happen when I was just sitting here frustrated by my own internet connection. It is wild to think about all of you dealing with the exact same slow speeds and overpriced bills while companies pretend it is all fine. I have a long list of people to show this to once the number gets a bit bigger.
Reached 250 supporters
February 24, 2011
Reached 100 supporters
February 22, 2011
9 Comments
Companies in Craven County refuse to even provide service to my street anymore. It’s ridiculous that is 2020 and we don’t have internet on our road. They had internet service here back in 2004 but not anymore and that’s unacceptable since the schools here are 100% remote learning. They want me to take my children to the parking lot of a school, business or church to do their work. Our children deserve better.
Windstream refuses to bring highspeed internet service to our area. I have already tried fighting them with the fcc to no avail.
I pay almost $100 a month for outdated broadband that provides up to 1 mg. Usually we get half that. Windstream calls us a best case service area and has no plans to upgrade our lines.
Breaking the monopolies is the only way to (1) gain improved customer service, (2) increase bandwidth, and (3) stop the price gouging.
North Carolina needs municipal broadband to overcome limitations imposed on us by carrier monopolies. Especially in light of the recent TWC/Comcast merger, it's vital to our state's growth that we have the opportunity to provide our own infrastructure where commercial carriers have failed to do so adequately.
Windstream service in my area is ridiculous. It is actually slower than dial up was in the 90’s. The fact that we pay for this weak of broadband service is a joke. Windstream will call periodically and attempt to upgrade me, at an additional cost ofcourse,. I tried it once and could not access the internet at all. I was told I have the weakest broadband available and I should never agree to an upgrade. In this day and age this is a complete joke.
I need my internet to stop dropping me!!!
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Whereas, many employment ads can only be found or responded to online; and
Whereas, obtaining unemployment benefits online provides more time for job seekers to be out finding jobs; and
Whereas, affordable, high-speed broadband service has become essential to work and life; and
Whereas, affordable, high-speed broadband service is vital for attracting high-paying, knowledge-worker jobs; and
Whereas, North Carolina has fallen behind other states in broadband access, ranking 41st out of the 50 states; and
Whereas, cable bills continue to rise at a rate that far outpaces inflation; and
Whereas, many of North Carolina's rural residents have no access high-speed broadband service; and
Whereas, fiber Internet provides near-limitless capacity for growth, and now even China has more homes wired for fiber than the U.S does; and
Whereas, some North Carolina municipalities have built their own fiber broadband networks to serve their citizens when commercial providers would not; and
Whereas, Rep. Avila's H129 and Senator Apodaca's S87, the so-called "Level Playing Field" bill, sponsored by the large cable and phone companies, will have the effect of shutting down North Carolina's existing, and curtailing new, municipal fiber broadband networks and permanently removing any real broadband competition in the state; and
Whereas, H129/S87 will prevent public/private partnerships in the deployment of broadband, including Google Fiber, for which more than 40 NC communities applied, and
Whereas, these bills will limit our state to being served by the outdated broadband infrastructure provided by the state's large cable and telcos companies, or, for our rural areas, no broadband service at all.
Therefore, we the undersigned oppose, and ask the General Assembly to oppose, H129 and S87 because these bills will deny us broadband, jobs and investment in our state by leaving the residents and businesses of North Carolina at the mercy of its large cable and telephone companies who are NOT investing in advanced broadband in our state, and especially not in our rural areas. We demand the General Assembly change its focus to getting its citizens and businesses more broadband in North Carolina, not less.
Updates
February 24, 2011
I just looked at the screen and saw we hit a hundred signatures which is honestly more than I thought would happen when I was just sitting here frustrated by my own internet connection. It is wild to think about all of you dealing with the exact same slow speeds and overpriced bills while companies pretend it is all fine. I have a long list of people to show this to once the number gets a bit bigger.
Reached 250 supporters
February 24, 2011
Reached 100 supporters
February 22, 2011
9 Comments
Windstream service in my area is ridiculous. It is actually slower than dial up was in the 90’s. The fact that we pay for this weak of broadband service is a joke. Windstream will call periodically and attempt to upgrade me, at an additional cost ofcourse,. I tried it once and could not access the internet at all. I was told I have the weakest broadband available and I should never agree to an upgrade. In this day and age this is a complete joke.
Companies in Craven County refuse to even provide service to my street anymore. It’s ridiculous that is 2020 and we don’t have internet on our road. They had internet service here back in 2004 but not anymore and that’s unacceptable since the schools here are 100% remote learning. They want me to take my children to the parking lot of a school, business or church to do their work. Our children deserve better.
Windstream refuses to bring highspeed internet service to our area. I have already tried fighting them with the fcc to no avail.
I pay almost $100 a month for outdated broadband that provides up to 1 mg. Usually we get half that. Windstream calls us a best case service area and has no plans to upgrade our lines.
Breaking the monopolies is the only way to (1) gain improved customer service, (2) increase bandwidth, and (3) stop the price gouging.
North Carolina needs municipal broadband to overcome limitations imposed on us by carrier monopolies. Especially in light of the recent TWC/Comcast merger, it's vital to our state's growth that we have the opportunity to provide our own infrastructure where commercial carriers have failed to do so adequately.
Windstream service in my area is ridiculous. It is actually slower than dial up was in the 90’s. The fact that we pay for this weak of broadband service is a joke. Windstream will call periodically and attempt to upgrade me, at an additional cost ofcourse,. I tried it once and could not access the internet at all. I was told I have the weakest broadband available and I should never agree to an upgrade. In this day and age this is a complete joke.
I need my internet to stop dropping me!!!
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Windstream service in my area is ridiculous. It is actually slower than dial up was in the 90’s. The fact that we pay for this weak of broadband service is a joke. Windstream will call periodically and attempt to upgrade me, at an additional cost ofcourse,. I tried it once and could not access the internet at all. I was told I have the weakest broadband available and I should never agree to an upgrade. In this day and age this is a complete joke.