Pssst! Newspapers! Beat Cable and Telephone! Here’s The Deal

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 There is a profitable, long-term business model for newspapers, but only if they quit the “pity me” whining  and take a realistic look at the opportunities in the marketplace.
  Opportunities, you blithely ask?
  “Why, yes, Virginia there is an Opportunity.”
  Newspapers must take over the ISP marketplace, become the portal to News, entertainment, Information, Education and “everything that’s fit to read” through their Home Page.
  How will it work?
  Newspapers will buy Infrastructure Access for their subscribers on Cable and Telco’s backbones, at reasonable and competitive pricing, assured by FCC Licensing and Audits to assure compliance.

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   At the same time they are-and this is a long term key-persuading the FCC and Congress that Free Speech requires reasonable and competitive access to Infrastructure through separation of Content from Infrastructure. Cable, Telco and others accomplish this  goal through direct sale or spin offs, to the effect that Cable and Telco management have no control over Content providers, and must compete for Content on a level playing field.   As Infrastructure providers perform the necessary restructuring of their business to provide more Infrastructure, and greater bandwidth to deliver it, the technology available will allow the Infrastructure providers to accomplish their mission, yet still make a profit deserving of attention by investors, just not the monopoly profits heretofore charged to captive U.S. Consumers and businesses.   This leads to more Services. More Entertainment, more Content of every type, Content at higher bandwidth and quality, Content of greater choice, Content that meets the definition of AnyThing, AnyTime, AnyWhere (AAA) which can only happen in a free and competitive marketplace.
  (The FCC, also now being pushed by the FTC, is considering these issues in 2010-write your Senators and Congressmen).
  Depending on who is measuring, somewhere between 13-18 other countries -Korea!?!? Japan, Israel, France, Germany, others-have better Content choices, and more bandwidth to deliver Content, with higher Broadband speeds, and available for less cost than the U.S.  We really have to deal with the Cable and Telco monopolies, the primary cause of reduced Content choice and availability and much higher costs in the U.S.
  This all ties in with the new business model for newspapers in that by becoming Internet Service Providers (ISP) they provide a needed service-access to the Internet and all that offers, while realizing the opportunity to offer more Content for less cost; more News, more entertainment, more everything.    By becoming the ISPs Portal, they can compete with Cable and Telco for the News, Entertainment (New First Run Movie Releases at $10.00 per household, 20 million households guaranteed), and many choices between Tiered Services of Email only, to Pay-Per-View Content, to packaged baskets of Services like Home (Cloud)Security, Home (Cloud) Health, Home Education (see Cloud Education) the new Charter School of Phoenix University potential, multiplied by 100.
  The potential is limitless. but the existing monopolistic structure enjoyed by Cable and Telco has robbed the U.S. consumer of many, many chances for Services and products; choices that Newspaper ISP’s could begin to offer right away.
  The Content Infrastructure of current newspapers, now under rapid demolition, could be preserved, even improved greatly. Bloomberg News, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and other well-regarded and established Content providers plus many that would develop to serve the new opportunities, could offer packages of Content that they now control, and new Content to be developed, to newspapers with a potential subscriber base of 125,000,000 households and up to 25,000,000 small businesses, encompassing up to another 70-80,000,000 accounts through the business base. (Half of all workers have a workplace computer).
  The many complementary tie-ins to Education,Community, Government and Health are very obvious, and desirable.
 For the good of the American public, the need for Free Speech and all it’s importance to America, separating Content from Pipeline Infrastructure, driven by the new Newspaper Business Model, is the way to save the industry, while at the same time providing Americans with more Content Choices at competitive prices.
  The new model would also generate revenues necessary-think of it, half of American households subscribe to Newspapers, some 60 Million or so.
   At even $30.00 per month for the very highest level of Broadband Services, the Newspaper Revenue stream would be 18 Billion a month! Enough to pay for News Syndicates, web designers, Local-Local-Local Content and a host of other services.
  Add to that Premium Content that could be sourced competitively for re-offer to Consumers -”Mission Impossible Six-the new Generation, Meet the Focker’s Grandchildren, Star Wars 20-Conquering the Galactic Imperium.”  So many more choices to satisfy every need; for Entertainment, Information, and Communication.  How about Cloud Commuting-Billion of hours and gallons of fuel saved, Billions of tons of pollution saved; millions of square feet of Office space, utilities, air conditioning, concrete jungles, all saved, even recyccled to really useful community  needs.