[KLUG Advocacy] Re: Advocacy digest, Vol 1 #11 - 1 msg

[Adam Williams]

>>I've got doubts that deregulating the telecom industry actually
>>accomplished something.
>Oh it accomplished a lot... Have you tried to use a public payphone

There was a bit on the demise of the pay-phone awhile ago on NPR.    A
very sad thing.

>lately? Odds are the one you select to use has been vandalized, doesn't work
>or works VERY poorly.  

Yep.  Deregulation is a success so long as it doesn't severely injure
the wealthy.  If you live in a project or slum and the pay phones do not
work it is a serious problem, and with no credit the only cell phones
available are the expensive pre-pay variety.

>Mr. "I don't want a cell phone" here got fed up with
>non-working payphones and high payphone prices. Needless to say, at least my
>Verizon cell phone works when I need it...

It does?  Where I grew up we used payphones all the time.  They are all
gone, and guess what - no cell coverage either (or at least really
shakey).

Cell coverage has also shown a pretty strong correlation to the racial
demographics of a neighborhood, another problem.

Ah, the joy of a "free" economy.....