As the City of Brownsville starts to implement it's $90 million broadband plan to bring the Internet communications to its residents, Spectrum and AT&T executives charge that the plan will result in "over-billing" and say that the city should allow private companies to deliver the service.
In a series of discussions which included Gov. Greg Abbot, Todd Baxter, vice president for state government affairs of telecom giant Charter Communications, known to many as Spectrum, and his AT & T counterpart J.D. Salinas said they does not like the City of Brownsville’s new multi-million broadband network project.
Baxter made his views known during a July 5 press conference hosted by Connect the Future Texas. Charter Communications are co-founders of Connect the Future Texas. The press conference, held at the College of Health Care Professions in McAllen, was staged to present Abbott with a “Broadband Champion” Award.
"So, I think a really good question that should be asked is, should government money be being used to over-bill the private sector to build redundant networks when, in fact, local governments should be looking to partner with the private sector, who already has networks in those towns. And so I would question whether that is actually a good use of taxpayer dollars. I think that is the question that should be asked,” Baxter told reporters.
AT & T's Salinas added: “What’s important to know is patching together a network with multiple providers presents operational risk, cybersecurity risk, and continuity issues. AT&T is committed to building, operating, maintaining and upgrading our networks so that our customers have high quality and secure experiences. We cannot maintain that standard of excellence when utilizing a middle mile network maintained by another provider. Quality and security may be compromised when a network is pieced together in a middle mile scenario.”
Bernal said: “When market failures occur, typically, government steps in to provide a public good. So, imagine the state without TxDOT. Imagine the state without having the Texas Water Development Board. Where you provide essential utilities, for highway, water, and wastewater.”
Broadband should be considered in the same light, he argued, according to the The Guardian.
“So, here we are, early part of the 21st Century, doing the same with one of the largest (broadband) projects in the state. Here in a couple of months we break ground in a $90 million dollar network. Twenty million in public investments, $70 million in private equity,” Bernal said.
“We have learned a lot more of ourselves than what the federal government understood about us because of misleading and inaccurate FCC mapping. But, we have also learned a lot about the private sector. We have learned that the private sector did not and does not have any intentions of investing in fiber and broadband in our community.”
Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez also defended the municipally-initiated broadband plan, saying that neither Spectrum nor AT & T had shown little interest in participating in the plan.
“I think the City of Brownsville’s broadband plan is the model partnership. It is a public-private partnership,” Mendez told The Guardian.
“The City is contributing almost $20 million to build out the middle mile infrastructure. We have partnered with a third party entity that is going to put in about $70 million for the last mile.”
And while Charter Communications and AT&T argue that as an urban community, Brownsville has good broadband infrastructure thanks to the private sector and therefore does not need to put its own system in place, Mendez disagreed.
Salinas said that “some local officials in the RGV are pushing to spend federal funds to build government-owned networks that would connect only public and government buildings – not households.”
Asked by The Guardian which local officials AT&T were referring to, Salinas told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service: “Government-owned options for middle mile networks have been discussed in Brownsville and Pharr.”
Asked to respond to Baxter and Salinas’ comments, Mendez said: “AT&T had their chance. Spectrum had their chance. All they did was try to prevent us from connecting ourselves as a community. We did not find they were willing to come to the table with any sort of solution. It was more about trying to convince us that everything was okay when obviously it was not. So, we are moving forward.”
Mendez said he is hopeful that a number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will partner with the City of Brownsville at some point.
“But for now we have got to look at what is best for our community. Historically, we have had to do it on our own and we are going to do it on our own again,” Mendez said."
In a statement made defending the city's "middle mile" approach, Mendez wrote that:
"It was time to push back against corporate interests that have criticized us for investing in our city and investing in our future.
"For decades, companies like AT&T and Spectrum (and their predecessors) refused to invest in communities like ours because it was not profitable. One unfortunate result of this was the digital divide, which left cities like Brownsville unable to compete with more affluent communities around the country. As time went by, the problem only got worse. This was simply not acceptable...
"I will continue to be attacked for doing the right thing, for investing in our community, and for leading this initiative. AT&T and Spectrum were given an opportunity to provide solutions and to partner with us for almost two years, but they refused," he wrote.
Asked by The Guardian which local officials AT&T were referring to, Salinas told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service: “Government-owned options for middle mile networks have been discussed in Brownsville and Pharr.”
Asked to respond to Baxter and Salinas’ comments, Mendez said: “AT&T had their chance. Spectrum had their chance. All they did was try to prevent us from connecting ourselves as a community. We did not find they were willing to come to the table with any sort of solution. It was more about trying to convince us that everything was okay when obviously it was not. So, we are moving forward.”
Mendez said he is hopeful that a number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will partner with the City of Brownsville at some point.
“But for now we have got to look at what is best for our community. Historically, we have had to do it on our own and we are going to do it on our own again,” Mendez said."
In a statement made defending the city's "middle mile" approach, Mendez wrote that:
"It was time to push back against corporate interests that have criticized us for investing in our city and investing in our future.
"For decades, companies like AT&T and Spectrum (and their predecessors) refused to invest in communities like ours because it was not profitable. One unfortunate result of this was the digital divide, which left cities like Brownsville unable to compete with more affluent communities around the country. As time went by, the problem only got worse. This was simply not acceptable...
"I will continue to be attacked for doing the right thing, for investing in our community, and for leading this initiative. AT&T and Spectrum were given an opportunity to provide solutions and to partner with us for almost two years, but they refused," he wrote.
"The irony is that the companies who created the digital divide will now likely profit from it by obtaining federal dollars to build infrastructure in communities that were historically left behind. They will fight hard and they will hire the best lobbyists to keep their grip on the industry. In the end, we will do our best to stay ahead of the curve and keep moving forward. On the Border, by the Sea and Beyond!"
27 comments:
Will City of Brownsville also buy computers for its poverty-stricken residents, most of whom do not have one at home?
no.
“A SITTING PRESIDENT ASKING FOR CIVIL WAR”: JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE DETAILS ROLE OF EXTREMIST GROUPS IN TRUMP INSURRECTION
The bipartisan committee presented evidence suggesting Trump knowingly harnessed the anger of his supporters in an effort to remain in office. “It was a deliberate strategy decided upon in advance by the president,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy.
Republican Donald Trump is a criminal.
The Catholic Church going against abortion is an extremist organization. A woman's decision is between her and God, not her and some money-grubbing "middleman" like the Catholic Church!
Say NO to the oppressive, hateful Catholic Church!!!
No wonder so that's what they are doing providing broadband to the BIKE TRAILS. WOW que pendejos. Oh well its not their money its the taxpayer's
NEED TO VOTE ALL OF THESE PENDEJOS OUT FUERA MACHETE...
City of Brownsville should proceed with its plan.
Screw Ab(bot)t and Spectrum!
Go Brownsville!
Clear your own path! Bold move. Make it bolder!!
The City of Brownsville is"convenenciera". It signed agreements with the cellular phone companies to install towers in poor neighborhoods and then told people"if you oppose,we will not put the towers." All lies, the deals had been done and signed. So, in a couple of years we will know, who really made the deals here.
Mexico goes Bold -
Andres Manuel López Obrador’s visit to the White House this week came a month after the Mexican president, known by his initials AMLO, snubbed Biden by boycotting the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles because the U.S. did not invite the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Several Central American leaders followed suit and did not attend the summit either.
Just last week, the Mexican leader said he would campaign to tear down the Statue of Liberty if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was extradited and convicted of criminal charges by U.S. authorities. He’s also previously called U.S. support for Ukraine in the war with Russia a major mistake.
(Tear down the Statue of Liberty? well, Republicans say it no longer matters, so....YEAH!)
Remember, all Republican members of U.S. Congress VOTED NO against the bill that is providing the funds to build this BROADBAND.
NOW, AT&T and Spectrum want a piece of the pie. Both of these companies are also big $$ contributors to the GOP & Republicans including those Congress members who participated in the 2020 insurrection.
Sounds fishy
People don’t have it because they can’t afford it -
Is this One free for families ? If not the divide continues
Frankly after the downtown fiasco where our mayor and his friends were first in line - you have to wonder
Spectrum sucks it's to dam expensive and shitty channels plus all the BS sure charges is ridiculous.They even charge 26 dlrs a month extra on local channels,.wtf the valley is getting screwed by this company
What a bunch of lies. Someone should request the communications between COB and Spectrum, AT&T and Verizon to verify they weren't interested. How could they not be? That's idiotic. More than likely, there were no communications. This is just another no-bid scam initiated by Bernal. And the Mayor, yes the same one that helped PUB scam the citizens of Brownsville on Tenasaka, is probably up to his neck (like with his BCIC scamming) on this deal too.
Will the people of Brownsville ever wake up to these scammers?
>>>>Mendez says""I will continue to be attacked for doing the right thing, for investing in our community, and for leading this initiative. AT&T and Spectrum were given an opportunity to provide solutions and to partner with us for almost two years, but they refused," he wrote.<<<<<<
I do not trust our local officials, including Bernal and all of Mendez's LLC buddies to say the truth about any of this. The one's who took free grant money to the one's who skipped town for another job after they took from us. Mendez, doing the right thing for himself/buddies maybe? How much will he and his free grant money grubber LLC Buddies and commissioners make with this self given control?
$20M for broadband service? That was a priority?
Streets. Bus shelters. Flooding. Jobs. Nada.
This "investment" became a re-election venture for the mayor. And the city commissioners went along with this? What pet projects did they get?
Trey, stay in Austin if you love it so much.
We already have a bridge at the port
We already have tenaska
Now we gonna have this!?
So this means we ain’t gonna have nada and our elected officials (a few) and sole lawyer friends gonna bank
If Ira legit have a town hall and explain it
We also got scammed thirty years ago when the legalization of gambling by the Republic of Texas was to support the schools. Well guess what? The lobbyist take 97% of the profit and the lottery commission salaries take the rest.
Pura pinche rata de dos patas en Brownsville politics
Is conjunto bernal back or the city paid all expenses to bring him back, cause nobody knew what to say? IDIOTAS its not your money...
VOTE EVERYBODY OUT DO NOT RE-ELECT NO-BODY....
Another failed venture at the expense of the taxpayers. What experience does the city have in putting this project together? The only experience the city has is raising taxes. I seriously doubt that Spectrum, AT&T and Verizon weren't interested. So there’s no money to be made here? This sounds more like another scam from the mayor and his buddies to put extra cash in their pockets. These guys have already made enough money. Time to vote them out.
The legacy of Bernal,do away with employee fringe benefits, do away with retention efforts, hire consultants to do the work that he and his five assistants supposed to do and all his staff and himself park their personal cars on metered parking spots daily. I guess that worked pretty good as the interim city manager and all her staff continue to park on metered parking spots taking away revenue from city coffers. Way to go "Total Alignment "
I thought the former Mayor was bad with all his dealings with downtown buildings, the current Mayor is alot worse. Only in public office to financially benefit himself and friends. Pathetic leadership or lack thereof.
The "Total Alignment has to come from the voter. DO NOT RE-ELECT NO BODY IN THE CITY COMMISSION NOBODY!!!
NOW THAT'S "Total Alignment AND ITS FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
This mayor no different then the rest. And some city commissioners only care about their special interest. The conflicts of interest are insane. Where is the ethics committee?
@ July 16, 2022 at 3:29 PM
I agree with the conflicts of interest. Do they appoint themselves and friends as the ethics committee, as they did to give out grant money? So many liars running our city and county.
BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS:
Lets total align the city commission and re-elect NO ONE.
NOW THAT'S TOTAL ALIGNMENT.
DO IT TO THE COUNTY ALSO, A FREE TOTAL ALIGNMENT, KICK OUT LA BRUJA FIRST...
DO NOT RE-ELECT NO ONE!
TOTAL ALIGN CAMERON COUNTY NOW, ITS FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
DO IT TO THE PORT
DO NOT RE-ELECT NO ONE AT THE PORT, SENT THEM ALL BACK TO KKK CITY WITH THEIR COCOS....A free total alignment.
NEXT FIRE EVERY ONE AT PUB MOST ALL OF THEM ARE FROM THE KKK CITY FUERA, MACHETE.
REPLACE ALL THE CITY AND COUNTY AND PORT BOARDS FULL OF COMPADRES COUSINS BROTHERS SISTERS AND MAMONES....FUERA! TOTAL ALIGNMENT HERE ALSO!
Total Alignment Culture:
Home/City Government information for communite VOTERS-Total Alignment Culture.
Total-Alignment-Culture (TAC): Incident, information and planning functions. Plan, execute, voting initiatives, projects and annual recognitions of new Plans based on citizens/city needs and voting information in conjunction with community/city needs
and pending projects, transportation Services.
REQUESTING VOLUNTEERS!
always wrong - WHAT SEA????
south china sea
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