Bush pushes for 'aggressive' broadband.

aidan_dunne

From ZDNet News

In his first major address to technology leaders following the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush called for the expansion of high-speed Internet access. Flanked by CEOs and major executives from several of the most prominent computer and software companies in the country, Bush specifically remarked that "the country must be aggressive with the expansion of broadband," drawing rousing applause from the attendees.

Read the full story here:

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-935885.html

Come on Bertie, follow George Dubya's lead!

yellum

Jaysus, this is the guy that waved to Stevie Wonder at a concert.

aidan_dunne

Originally posted by yellum
Jaysus, this is the guy that waved to Stevie Wonder at a concert.

Yeah, I pi$$ed myself laughing when I heard that one as well, yellum. This is the guy who also said something along the lines of, "The problem is, all our imports come from other countries!" What a dumba$$!

dahamsta

This is a (fairly rapid) response to Democrat Leader Richard Gephardt and Majority Leader Tom Daschle's recent letter to Bush on the need for a US broadband policy:

http://www.politechbot.com/p-03652.html

Declan is somewhat skeptical:

Clearly life would not be complete without a Properly Capitalized National Broadband Policy. How else would companies know how to sell high speed Internet access otherwise???

Me, I'm not. It's wrong, but it's what we're reduced to. The marketplace in Ireland is much the same as in the US -- we gave the telco's an opportunity to compete. They didn't, now it's time to kick some booty. Developing a policy and applying it is a necessary evil.

adam

aidan_dunne

Originally posted by dahamsta
Declan is somewhat skeptical:

Me, I'm not. It's wrong, but it's what we're reduced to. The marketplace in Ireland is much the same as in the US -- we gave the telco's an opportunity to compete. They didn't, now it's time to kick some booty. Developing a policy and applying it is a necessary evil.

adam

I partly agree with what you're saying, adam.

You're right about how we gave the telecos an opportunity to compete but it has been the bloody-mindedness of Eircom to hold onto their monopoly, stifle competition and refuse to compete fairly in the market and the government's failure to make Eircom toe-the-line in the telecoms market that means we are in the dire situation we are at the moment. It should have never gotten like this when the market was opened up to competition but, you're right, somebody is going to have to start kicking some serious a$$ to get things going in the right direction, whether it is the government who do it, the EU or some other body. We cannot let this go unchecked any longer because, as has been said time and again, Eircom have been let do what they like and hold back the development of the internet in Ireland. As things stands, the past three of four years have been a bloody disgrace in the telecoms industry in Ireland and it should have never been let come to this.

I kind of disagree about how the Irish market is like the American one though, adam. Yes there has been some fishy smelling stuff going on in the American market as well but the major difference is that the Americans cry foul and go nuts when this kind of thing happens. If it's found out that a company is trying to stifle competition in order to hold onto it's monopoly in the States there is a national uproar and the government often comes down on them like a ton of bricks. Over here it seems to go unchecked and the government don't seem to give much of a damn unless it directly effects them. I said before that perhaps it's got something to do with the Irish mentality of letting big business or government do whatever the hell they want and we just lie down and take it. Unlike America, there has never been much of a "complaining" society in this country, we've been too easy and too quick to just let them walk all over us. I think that needs to change badly over here and people need to start making more of a noise and stand up for themselves more.

longword

Originally posted by yellum
Jaysus, this is the guy that waved to Stevie Wonder at a concert.

This is not the guy that writes the speeches. That task is left to Corporate America.