Cincinnati's Citywide Wireless Scheme

As a conservative, I should summon a righteous indignation at the fact that Cincinnati is contemplating a free wireless network, which would be paid for, in all likelihood, with the proverbial taxpayer buck. As a geek, and as one of half a dozen taxpaying conservatives who haven't yet evacuated to Warren or Butler Counties, I am, as the thundering liberal malcontents always say in their defense, uniquely "entitled to my opinion" on this issue.

Free wireless types of efforts are usually better served by the free market, where consumers have the benefit of prices that are driven downward by competition. And yes, government always makes a mess of things, and we need to be mindful of the ever-creeping concept of entitlements when big brother gets involved. Food stamps, welfare, prescription drugs, now wireless access - I feel owed a fresh new laptop and an HDTV.

Oh, wait. All joking aside, Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory is already suggesting that free computers for the downtrodden should be part of the bargain. Sheesh. You need to get up pretty early in the morning to move quicker than Democratic politicians offering new and more generous handouts.

The real losers in a city-wide wireless scheme will be Cincinnati Bell, T-Mobile, and all of the other carriers that attempt to charge you $9.95 an hour (or $19.95 a month) for the pleasure of using one of their access points. They built their infrastructure - heck, it cost almost a hundred bucks to install that wireless router at the bagel shop - and now they're going to get screwed. (Unless of course they win the city contract, in which case their margins will be even fatter.)

What makes me less than indignant (compared to some others) is the sense that the Internet is a net societal positive unlike any other. It has become the lifeblood of commerce and culture for the Western world. We should pay for quality access (speed mostly, and reliability) - but simple access almost seems like a "given". A wireless citywide network seems like a simple upgrade from offering PCs at the library - and you can argue against that too on the grounds of overgenerous government munificence, but we've really collectively settled the debate that libraries are paid for on the public dime.

If this can be done relatively cheaply, if the city can execute a plan efficiently and without years of dickering around, it could be a "win" for a local government that has reached an almost legendary level of ineptitude. The odds are long - but let's see how this shapes up before knocking it down completely.