Return-Path: <nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov>
Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id eA3KZQ918405; Fri, 3 Nov 2000 15:35:26 -0500 (EST)
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 15:35:26 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <3A031EF1.850D1FE3@ix.netcom.com>
Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov
Reply-To: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov
Originator: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov
Sender: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov
Precedence: bulk
From: Marguerite Lukes <mlukes@ix.netcom.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-TECHNOLOGY:1389] Re: Discounted DSL?
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (Win95; I)
Status: O
Content-Length: 6084
Lines: 139
Many adult programs around New York City have been working to try to
incorporate free ISPs into their programs to enable site staff as well as
students to be able to use the internet at no cost (of course, you need a
computer and modem first). With this in mind, there is an interesting
article in the most recent Village Voice about how the often forced choice
of cable over DSL means that users must go with a "chosen" service
provider. Below is a brief exerpt from the article, which you can read
at http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0044/russo.shtml
"Cable companies,
you see, unlike the phone guys, aren't legally required to
open their networks to all ISPs. So if you sign
up for Internet service with Time Warner or RCN or
Cablevision, you're agreeing to play by their rules, to
see what they want you to see, to get their brand of e-mail
and their approved search engine. Period.
Will this hurt the over 6000 other small or specialized ISPs
across the country? Sure it will.
But it could hurt you even worse.
Your local government-authorized monopolist wields scary
power: They can control what you can reach
on the Internet, how fast you see it, even whether you see it
at all. Driven by business interests and
revenue-generating alliances, the cable companies can make
the information superhighway harder to
navigate—unless you go where they want you to go. Using both
carrot and stick, they can make it just
not worth your trouble to travel to all those fascinating
little byways that were once so enticing."
We should definitely inform ourselves about the impact of our
technology choices. And I applaud Jeff for getting behind the idea of
including adult ed in the e-rate!
Marguerite Lukes
--
Marguerite Lukes, Director
New York City Professional Development Consortium
84 William Street, 14th floor
New York, NY 10038
Ph: 212.803.3322
Fax: 212.785.3685
e-mail: nycpdc@lacnyc.org
http://www.lacnyc.org/pdc
Jeff Carter wrote:
> >NIFL-Technology Colleagues,
> >
> >I wonder if you are aware of any telphone company or other DSL
> provider
> >which is providing discounts to adult education programs for DSL
> service.
> >I think this is an issue we should be working on and sharing
> information
> >about. If we make progress on this, it could be a big boost for
> adult
> >learning and literacy programs who want to provide high(er) speed
> Internet
> >access for students and staff, but are constrained by the costs.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >David J. Rosen
>
> David, (and others),
>
> As you and probably many others on the list know too well, adult
> literacy has a couple of obstacles to overcome in this regard. ABE is
> generally not organized locally or state-wide as a system, as is K-12,
> (thus losing the bargaining power that comes through strength in
> numbers), nor are individual programs usually large enough or
> prominent enough to attract attention or competition from the telecom
> companies by themselves. And of course, wiring K-12 and colleges with
> broadband is perceived by many companies as a good marketing or PR
> opportunity.
>
> Compounding this is the fact that, for the most part, adult literacy
> programs are not eligible for e-rate discounts. I'm not an expert on
> this, but I can tell you from talking to K-12 folks and writing
> stories on it that the e-rate has been a huge motivation for companies
> to compete for K-12 business over the last couple of years. And
> competition means that many K-12 systems are getting good discounts
> _in addition_ to the discount that they are getting from the e-rate
> program. In other words, it's not necessarily benevolence on the part
> of the companies to make deals with K-12 -- it's often part of their
> business strategy. A contract with a school district to provide
> broadband services is prized by many companies.
>
> Finally, it seems to me (I have nothing but anecdotal experience to
> back this up) that, compared to K-12, more programs in adult ed are
> located in buildings that are more difficult to wire or in parts of
> communities where it's more costly for these companies to provide
> services.
>
> (BTW -- bear in mind that DSL is only one of the several major
> competing broadband technologies out there. T-1 lines and cable
> modems, for example, are also part of the picture. It all depends on
> where you live. I _think_ in Massachusetts, for example, AT&T
> Roadrunner cable modems might lead the market in broadband services.)
>
> What it all adds up to is that individual programs have an uphill
> battle. I have personally never heard of a program that has actually
> had the luxury of selecting among competitive bids for broadband
> Internet services. (That doesn't mean it hasn't happened; I just don't
> know of any examples.) It would really be useful to hear about other
> people's experiences.
>
> So I just want to jump in and agree with David that this is an issue
> programs should be talking about, and also working on collectively. It
> seems to me that one strategy might be to form consortia of programs
> to approach providers collectively. It would be great to hear from
> people if they've had success this way. I guess the overriding
> question is, how do we get adult ed in a position where contracts with
> us are also prized by companies?
>
> Another issue is to talk about how adult literacy got cut out of the
> e-rate legislation and what, if anything, can be done to change that
> in future appropriations. This is an issue, I think, for both
> collective grass-roots organizing and also state and national
> leadership. I personally would trade all of the federal investments in
> technology initiatives and products for adult ed over the last five
> years in return for the inclusion of local adult literacy programs in
> the e-rate initiative.
>
> Thanks for raising the issue!
>
> Jeff
>
> Jeff Carter
> NELRC/World Education
> (617) 482-9485
> jcarter@worlded.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 16 2001 - 14:45:40 EST