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The Communications Workers' union is being "pragmatic" in actual policy debate, but has a long record of progressive stands. From their website, some sensible ideas.

"Universal, Affordable Service. Every resident and business must have affordable access not only to telephone service, but also to high-speed communications networks." A sensible goal, I strongly support.

Universal is easy, because a look at the U.S. networks show it would cost very little to reach 95+% of U.S. homes with 50+ megabit service. Modest sums, extending cable networks and fiber where appropriate, can reach 98%. Improving satellite for the 1-2% brutally expensive to reach by land can also be done at modest cost.

In a surprise move September 23, the Fiber to the Home Council, the Communications Workers of America, Senator Jay Rockefeller and Congressman Anna Eshoo called for a massive upgrade of U.S. cable modem service, which competes directly with fiber to the home buildouts and the telcos that employ most CWA members. They supported massive subsidies to 100 megabit service. DOCSIS 3.0 is capable of offering 100 megabit service at about a tenth the cost of building fiber and is already deployed to over 15 million homes in the U.S. today and 20 million more in other countries. It's the natural way to get to 100 megabits if that the only criteria. Fiber is more reliable and expandable, but those are not included in the resolution.

Two plus two does not equal five, but the best Washington lobbyists are capable of persuading intelligent people 2+2=5 or equally implausible concepts. They are paid $2M and more a year because they are extraordinary persuaders, several of whom have elected Presidents. Their skill is part of the explanation for "the paradox of the honest man." Reporting on the FCC, I became convinced people like Mike Powell and Kevin Martin would throw you out of their office if you offered them a suitcase with $1M. They might have you arrested. Yet their votes for most of their term frequently clashed with their own principles, and rarely differed from how stooges would have voted. Dale Hatfield tells me he never saw anything that even smelled like a bribe in decades at the FCC.

If lobbyists like Cicconi and Tauke merely had to persuade Washington to do reasonable things, they might not be worth the big bucks. In practice, the Bells have enough power that anything reasonable they get without a battle. Their job is to get "unreasonable" concessions, like huge giveaways to several of the most profitable companies in the world.

FIOS is fastest (around 200 Mbps), then DOCSIS 3.0 (about 50,) then AT&T's U-Verse (1-10, like other DSL and older cable) slowest.

By technology, Verizon would win in 20% of the U.S., while cable takes over 70%. AT&T, Qwest, and the RLECs are out of the game. That's the "secular tendency" for the next decade, although the very weak U.S. competition could easily override the network issues.  AT&T and Verizon have a crucial advantage in their near-control of the wireless network, and $tens of billions more cash available.

Result:

Cable may or may not hold its own against FIOS. DOCSIS 3.0 at 50 meg may be enough, although not including upstream may be a bad mistake. Still unclear.

If cable prices aggressively, they should clobber AT&T, Qwest, Bell Canada and the other telcos. 100 meg down, no cap, costs between $25 and $40 in France and Japan as part of the bundle.

If cable and telcos "wink and nod," and both keep prices high, the U.S. stays behind.

Monday after the election, Henry Rivera or one of his supporters told the press he would choose Obama's FCC Chairman. This would have been odd, considering Rivera was a partner of the uber-Republican FCC lobbyists Wiley, Rein. By later that day, key Obama supporters were telling me that was simply wrong - especially because at least one of his rumored choices was totally inappropriate. Obama spoke of avoiding lobbyists, with the loophole he was only referring to "registered" lobbyists. Rivera hadn't registered as a lobbyist for several years, but he discreetly was moved to a different post in the transition away from the FCC.

Researching Iowa Telecom, I discovered that Rivera had actively lobbied the FCC late in October.