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This is pretty tinfoil hat of me. I have this theory that many companies that are “competing” with each other in an area (Cox and AT&T for me) seem to be ceding
by Forgeties79 5y ago
This is pretty tinfoil hat of me. I have this theory that many companies that are “competing” with each other in an area (Cox and AT&T for me) seem to be ceding areas to each other by upgrading certain sections and not others while avoiding overlap for long periods, functionally only giving buyers one choice.
In New Orleans, Cox has offered “gigablast” (yes that’s what it’s called) Internet in some areas while AT&T offers fiber. Now they often don’t overlap, which isn’t wild given they are incrementally upgrading a large area section by section, so I can easily see wanting to be first to an area your competitor isn’t offering a comparable product. But here’s the rub: Cox also offers 5mb down/600kb up in some areas of downtown New Orleans. That is unusable Internet. No one would get anything but AT&T, who hasn’t laid fiber in that area yet, but gives you 25+.
That’s not competition, that’s the appearance of it.
- bombcar 5y agoIt’s not tinfoil at all, it’s just normal decision making. You have 10k customers (out of a possible 20k) - do you upgrade your lines where it would make you fastest by far, or do you upgrade your lines where you’d just be as fast? The second probably has fewer customers, the first will get you new customers.
- Forgeties79 5y agoI guess I should’ve been more clear: I think there may be some behind the scenes coordination happening between these companies.
- bombcar 5y agoI suspect there isn't just because they don't really need to "coordinate" which would cause anti-trust issues, they can just "watch" and adjust based on what they see.
- Forgeties79 5y agoFair point
- ryathal 5y agoI'm not sure that anyone can seriously believe there isn't collusion happening among telecom companies, the failed Comcast and Time Warner practically had it in writing that there was collusion. Anti-trust action isn't ever going to happen though, so there isn't much that can be done.