Connected Nation Faces Heat in Florida - When You're Fired, Just Buy Yourself a New Boss?

Connected Nation Faces Heat in Florida When You're Fired, Just Buy Yourself a New Boss? We've talked for years about how Connected Nation, supposedly designed as as a broadband mapping firm that helps improve broadband coverage, has been criticized as really just a lobbying extension of the major phone companies, tasked with funneling subsidies toward incumbent companies and away from their competitors (or municipal government operations). The group is now facing heated criticism in Florida for using lobbying muscle and cash to crush any other firms that might have done a better job mapping broadband in the State. The telling paragraph from the report: After repeated performance problems, DMS officials decided last year that they would not renew the broadband contract with Connected Nation when it expired in December and would seek new bids. Meanwhile, Connected Nation sent its lobbying team to get the governor?s office to order DMS to halt the contract process until the program could be moved to another agency. The company then persuaded the Legislature to transfer the program to the new Department of Economic Opportunity, and the governor signed the bill authorizing the move. Actually having the lobbying muscle to change the law and shake up government organization is the kind of power that comes from being friends with hugely politically powerful incumbent phone companies. Connected Nation saw similar criticism in Minnesota when the organization lobbied and bullied their way to broadband mapping grants -- ensuring no public input on the process. The criticism has been Connected Nation wins these grants, then provides rosy maps that suggest better competition and coverage than there actually is -- then steering any broadband money that does come in toward protected duopoly interests and away from any company or organization that could shake the uncompetitive boat.

Reviews: ?Atlantic Broadband Re: More Wasted Money I'm with you on it being wasted money, but why is it that the media in this country helps to promote every myth about everyday people wasting money on "welfare" when the real atrocities are occurring under corporate welfare, just like this? Corporations are America's biggest welfare recipients, which is why I laugh at the notion of any idea that we're under in a free market. Companies' gave up innovating years ago to ask Uncle Sam for a check. Re: More Wasted Money I definitely agree with regards to corporate welfare. I say just establish a uniform taxing/regulation policy for all companies and let the chips fall where they may. But as for broadband mapping, can anyone explain why the government should care about it? ISPs already (and yes, I have *the list* ready should anyone dispute this) make their availability information readily available to the public. Some ISPs (Verizon FIOS in Maryland comes to mind) even make their deployment information public. Given how this information is already widely and freely available, perhaps the government should stop wasting scarce money on these silly mapping projects and instead focus on more pressing concerns. -- Romney 2012 - Put an adult in charge. Reviews: ?Atlantic Broadband Re: More Wasted Money I actually would say I agree. I think that forcing FCC compliance with companies showing where their lines actually run would be sufficient for this purpose. I think the money instead of spent on broadband mapping would make more sense as grants to help underserved areas receive FTTH services. I know there was some of this money being spent, Hardy County, WV's Hardy Communications received a grant, and they're laying FTTH in the rural part of the Eastern Panhandle as we speak. Mapping broadband availability doesn't help make it more available. And the moment the map is released, the data changes. What does make it more available is putting that money into laying fiber in the areas that simply don't have it, and won't with purely private investment. Re: More Wasted Money said by osravens: IMapping broadband availability doesn't help make it more available. And the moment the map is released, the data changes. Never considered that point... that's definitely another major reason these government-published broadband maps should be scrapped. -- Romney 2012 - Put an adult in charge. I can see why the state took away the oversight of the $6.3 million fed grant from DMS. It wasn't Connected Nation that caused this. It was DMS wasting the money. DMS said the grant requires it to use some of the money to pay for three more years of broadband mapping and the rest to expand broadband access in libraries and schools. DMS hired eight contract employees to handle administration and provide services, paying them between $72,000 and $140,000 a year until the grant ends in 2014, and defended it as an efficient use of state funds. So DMS planned over 4 yrs of the contract to use approx $3.2 million of the $6.3 million for oversight & mgt. I wonder whose relatives of DMS govt employees were going to fill those 8 positions? Connected Nation may have used some muscle to get DMS stripped of the contract, but the state legislature and budget makers had already had it with DMS and their incompetence and were already inclined to strip them of power. the other side of the coin... I take issue with groups that have it out against CN. I don't work there, I don't represent them, but I do work in the industry. What I see are groups of people, businesses, and individuals who do not take the time to help the mapping process, and then turn around and complain when they don't get funding. The line "supposedly designed as as a broadband mapping firm" is Ludicrous. They offer some of the best coverage and detailed maps of our industry anywhere to be found. Show me another group that has the resources in the field, the engineers in the offices, and the combination of the two that load maps into a portal like they do, allowing everyone quick and easy access to the maps. "just a lobbying extension of the major phone companies" is the worst thing I have heard about CN. To give you a view of how it works: The government appropriates money for broadband coverage. In order to determine where the coverage is and isn't, they give grants to mapping coordinators. These coordinators go out, on-site and find broadband providers. They check phone books, yard signs, flyers, newspaper ads, etc. When they find a provider, they approach them and basically present their case: "I am with a national broadband mapping program, do you have any coverage maps of your service you can supply so that we can include you in the map? If you are not on the map, the government doesn't know you exist, and because of that you can't get funding." And what do you think the ISPs do? Do they turn over maps? No. They are too scared of what "big brother" and their competitors will do with the information, so they opt out; they opt-out of the map, out of the money, and off the grid. And what follows? Complaints. "I didn't get any government money and my competitor did". Guess what, he supplied the maps. So, what did the ever-hated CN do? They started running around with spectrum analyzers and telco equipment and building coverage maps based on investigatory work. Why, so the incumbent carriers could know exactly where these little guys are? No, so that they could supply information that the providers weren't willing to give up. This idea that CN flipped politics to win a contract has nothing to do with what they do. It has to do with business. Please don't be so naive. If your company had the resources to win everything they could, they would do it to. It's not about the carriers or what someone is plotting against smaller ilecs/clecs/wisps etc. it's about winning contracts. /rant

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