The Manifest Destiny of telecommunications networks

“we are, while it may sound overwrought, committing acts of violence and domination against those who do not buy into the manifest destiny of the Internet and telecommunications networks”

It sounds overwrought because it is overwrought. So why write it...you aren’t orating at the Forum. Take off your toga and put on some sweats.

The argument for local regs on outdoor telecom equipment is stronger here because towers are points and not lines. Lines are easy to disrupt and those disruptions are expensive, so Federal preemption power is important. Seems like the rollout of 5G could be done more slowly, prioritizing the places with greatest need first.

And where are these places and what are those needs? I haven’t heard a compelling use case for 5G universal service. Are we in a position of bandwidth congestion in any US urban area, even Manhattan? Surveillance? Everything I’ve read justifying 5G sounds less like a list of obvious advantages, and more like “we just gotta”. There weren’t such concerns with 4G because the benefits were self-evident.

From 2011.

“... suggests that it is possible to determine the self-expressed political attitude of individuals, at least for the self-report measure we used, based on structural MRI scans.”

Seems big, if true. Has this been replicated?