Dianah Neff is miffed: The CIO of Philadelphia has written a fairly hilarious, factually based screed over at News.com that shreds to ribbons a variety of the issues raised by the sock puppets of industry and directly by incumbent monopolies and duopolies. She knows where the bodies are buried--alongside the rights of way for fiber and copper, I'd guess--and is starting to pull out the big guns as the plan to unwire Philadelphia nears its revelation.
This argument regarding municipalities building out wi-fi access seems to miss the real point. What are the appropriate and proper functions of government at all levels? What services should be built and operated by government at any level, and which should be left to the private sector?
Should government build out cellular networks? Cable TV networks? Roads? Schools? Sports stadia?
Shopping centers? Should government provide computers for people to use?
I dont believe it is a given that just because a government thinks something is a good idea that automatically we should all fall into lockstep and go along with it. There are proper functions of government. Perhaps the debate should focus on what those proper functions are.