3 ms·

Who needs to own cables? You could rent cable in some areas, rent satallite for others, build short range wireless towers in others, use laser transmission her

Who needs to own cables? You could rent cable in some areas, rent satallite for others, build short range wireless towers in others, use laser transmission here, build above ground infrastructure there, channel packets through power cables here, and phone lines there, and speed it up with local caching here, here and here. Technology changes, don't expect the ISP killer to look like an ISP. Just as the land-line phone killer in no way looked like a better land line phone provider.

zachrose 16y ago
s/cables/infrastructure/g
jshen 16y ago
Who would you rent them from? In a libertarian world who should have owned the cables for the past 20 years? How would competition happen when the cost of running new cables all around the country is extremely high?
- warrenwilkinson 16y ago
  As with everything, if you want something you either buy it or build it. If the cost to use existing infrastructure is too high, demand for alternatives will grow. If this demand can supplied, great, if it can't, then nothing can be done by market or government. You've correctly pegged me as a Libertarian =), but I don't know who should be the title holders of the existing infrastructure.
  - jshen 16y ago
    The point is that a new business can't dig up everyones backyard if they think the current phone companies are doing a bad job, even if there is demand. I don't see how the libertarian model can work in this case.
    - warrenwilkinson 16y ago
      Can I give you a link? http://server.theadvocates.org/ruwart/questions_maint.php?Category=26&id=377 http://server.theadvocates.org/ruwart/questions_maint.php?Ca... Mary Ruwart (2008 Libertarian Party presidental nomination) answers a very similar question about roads. The short answer is: Most of the infrastructure would be built and maintained by the people who lived next to them. A university and some nearby business(es) might build a high speed connection. Then some adjacent neighborhoods might tie in. As low-cost regional hubs grow, entrepreneurs might focus on cost effective inter-regional infrastructure.

zachrose 16y ago

s/cables/infrastructure/g

jshen 16y ago

Who would you rent them from? In a libertarian world who should have owned the cables for the past 20 years? How would competition happen when the cost of running new cables all around the country is extremely high?

warrenwilkinson 16y ago
As with everything, if you want something you either buy it or build it. If the cost to use existing infrastructure is too high, demand for alternatives will grow. If this demand can supplied, great, if it can't, then nothing can be done by market or government. You've correctly pegged me as a Libertarian =), but I don't know who should be the title holders of the existing infrastructure.
- jshen 16y ago
  The point is that a new business can't dig up everyones backyard if they think the current phone companies are doing a bad job, even if there is demand. I don't see how the libertarian model can work in this case.
  - warrenwilkinson 16y ago
    Can I give you a link? http://server.theadvocates.org/ruwart/questions_maint.php?Category=26&id=377 http://server.theadvocates.org/ruwart/questions_maint.php?Ca... Mary Ruwart (2008 Libertarian Party presidental nomination) answers a very similar question about roads. The short answer is: Most of the infrastructure would be built and maintained by the people who lived next to them. A university and some nearby business(es) might build a high speed connection. Then some adjacent neighborhoods might tie in. As low-cost regional hubs grow, entrepreneurs might focus on cost effective inter-regional infrastructure.