Municipal WiFI: a political "hot potatoe?"

NYTimes requires registration, but this short piece is interesting. The US is slipping in terms of the quality of its Internet infrastructure as it abandons the government sponsored model of interconnectivity for one that leaves the connections to private businesses. Can't hear me now? Think about it. This guy is doing a press conference on how you call 911 from an NYC subway: His pal will have a tin can and string in the subway. The pal will talk to Mr. Rasiej who will be on the other end of the string with his own tin can. The pal in the subway will ask Rasiej to call 911. Rasiej will use his cellphone to place the call. What a picturesque little scene. This is a BIG issue, and as writer Friedman points out, all congress is doing is letting gun manufacturers out of any responsibility...Can they hear us? I wonder. Calling All Luddites - New York Times: "Mr. Rasiej argues that we can't trust the telecom companies to make sure that everyone is connected because new technologies, like free Internet telephony, threaten their business models. 'We can't trust the traditional politicians to be the engines of change for how people connect to their government and each other,' he said. By the way, he added, 'If New York City goes wireless, the whole country goes wireless.'"