More competition, please
The Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund has expanded broadband access to a wide swaths of rural areas statewide over the past eight years.
This program exposed additional broadband access availability issues in areas that are not rural, but are not urban though. Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom are the only broadband providers in these areas. In other words, you don’t have any competitive choices for broadband access.
I live in area (Kalaoa in North Kona) with this issue. Spectrum has monopoly on broadband. Hawaiian Telcom offers DSL with a maximum speed of 11 Mbps as token competition. It’s worse in the area where my parents live (Discovery Harbor in Ka‘u), Hawaiian Telcom doesn’t offer any broadband access to this subdivision, which leaves Spectrum as the only option.
These federal subsidies have improved access to underserved areas, but it’s left a lot of areas with only one legitimate broadband provider with a service monopoly.
I firmly believe competition brings improved level of service and pricing. Urban areas will be the only places with an ability to have a choice in broadband providers the way things are going.
Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona
‘Religious freedom’
In the case of the high school football coach “inviting” his players to join him at midfield for after-game prayers, the U.S. Supreme Court has shown once again that the only religion which has real freedom in their America is evangelical Christianity.
Can you imagine their reaction if it were a Muslim or Jewish coach wanting the team to pray together after a game?
And anyone who thinks players who don’t want to join the prayer meeting are free to say “no” have no idea how high school athletics works. If the coach wants you to do something, you do it. If you don’t, you will lose playing time, starting position, etc.
For some Christians, if they aren’t allowed to force their beliefs on others, their religious freedom is being violated. But everyone should know that the Constitution nowhere mentions Jesus or Christianity.
Religious freedom, according to the founders, included all religions. It’s a terrible blot on this nation today that our highest court refuses to uphold that standard.
By the way, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and James Monroe were none of them Christians. And George Washington, a Christian, was adamant that all religious groups had equal rights to religious freedom in the U.S.
Dan Lindsay
Hilo
