3 ms·

Privatization.

• brewdad 9y ago
  Didn't we give telcos a ton of money in the 90s to ensure fiber to the premises everywhere? How did that work out? Privatization still requires oversight.
  • armenarmen 9y ago
    We did it with phones in general and the cost of service plummeted as the quality rose.
    • empthought 9y ago
      That's just the telco taking credit for what microchip manufacturers have achieved.
      • deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
  • rayiner 9y ago
    First, we didn't do that.[1] Second, the telecoms were already privatized, so what the 90s were about was deregulation, which is different. Third, while it's true that privatization (as well as deregulation) requires oversight, it's been quite successful in other countries in the transit sector. Japan's transit sector is highly privatized, for example, and mostly unsubsidized. The EU has called for deregulation of rail service by 2020: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-strike/rail-strike-hits-france-over-preparation-for-eu-deregulation-idUSKCN0XN1AE https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-strike/rail-strike.... [1] I don't want to derail the thread, but you can search on HN for the past discussion. Also, whatever we did worked fine. Out of the G7 countries, we're #2 in fiber penetration, behind Japan.