Update to more transparency needed in the Long Island Wi-Fi proposal

Mea culpa, mea culpa.  No sooner did Glenn Fleishman link to my rant about Newsday not sufficiently covering the story, and my complaining that the scope and powers of the Wi-Fi LDC was done in the dark, I came across this article in Suffolk Life, the consistently underrated free paper in these parts.  Evidently Chris Mascaro of the Suffolk Life covered the resolution creating the LDC, but I think the folks that created this new entity need to explain exactly why this new corporation is needed, and the backpedaling by the politicians on the cost of the network and who it will be borne by.  This paragraph is most telling:

"Levy believes that the LDC will serve as the perfect barometer at this juncture in the wireless process. “Creating an LDC is the next step before the Request for Proposals,” he said. “We will be able to determine how vast our network can be.” He continued to say that the LDC will also have to determine whether the network will be free or provided at a nominal charge, but insisted that they would try their best not to increase taxes."

If public money is used to create this infrastructure, it needs to be an open, vendor-neutral, wholesale model, where competition can truly flourish, and innovative, customer-responsive small businesses can return to the playing field.  If it is a giveaway to a single entity, it becomes a boondoggle.

Why would there have to be any tax increase if the taxpayers aren't supposed to be paying for the construction and operation of this network?  Shame on us all for not following up on what Suffolk Life reported plainly six months ago.

I also found an article in LIBN from October of 2006, by Henry E. Powderly, describing the LDC as the vehicle for generating the revenues, similar to the Suffolk County Water Authority.   Here's a transcript of the Suffolk Legislature's committee meeting in October, where the co-chairs of the committee discuss the development of the LDC.  Here's a link to the law itself passed by the legislature.