3 ms·
Yes, the deployment cost will vary if you draw enough lines. But higher charges in poor neighborhoods doesn’t mean that’s where the highest costs are. Wealthy
by mulmen 3y ago
Yes, the deployment cost will vary if you draw enough lines. But higher charges in poor neighborhoods doesn’t mean that’s where the highest costs are. Wealthy neighborhoods with large property and low density could have a higher per-home infrastructure cost. All that trenching adds up.
LA is drawing one line at the city limit so there’s only one cost. All customers will pay an equal share of the total cost.
This allocation is a matter of perspective but neighborhood boundaries are a classic tool of oppression. Similar to toll roads and bus fares. It costs a lot to be poor.
Famously AT&T was required to offer local service at a loss to maintain their monopoly. This seems consistent.
Society benefits when everyone has access to basic services.
- fragmede 3y agoMunicipal broadband is what needs to happen. Water, electricity, and garbage are considered basic services and are provided by the government, so should Internet access be.
- CaptainZapp 3y agoThat's what we have here. Fiber is owned by the city, which rents out access to a number of ISPs and communication providers. They compete on price and product offerings. Works like a charm.
- oh_sigh 3y agoWhy would a company choose to charge less to wealthy people, and more to poor people?
- alistairSH 3y agoBecause they can. Wealthy customers are more likely* to balk at a price and demand breaking the ISP monopoly in their area. * They have the time and means to hire lawyers
- gottorf 3y agoWhat wealthy customer is going to sue the local ISP over pricing? It's far more likely that garden-variety economic factors are the cause. Imagine: poorer neighborhoods are less profitable (if nothing else, because more people sign up for the lower-priced plans), which means competitors don't want to get in, which means the incumbent has no incentive to lower prices that they might elsewhere.
- mulmen 3y agoThe plans are the same price. Speeds are slower in poor neighborhoods.
- mulmen 3y agoYou’d have to ask AT&T. The markup says AT&T is offering slower service for the same price. So if I had to guess they are moving older equipment to neighborhoods with people less likely to have the time or energy to complain. https://themarkup.org/still-loading/2022/10/19/dollars-to-megabits-you-may-be-paying-400-times-as-much-as-your-neighbor-for-internet-service https://themarkup.org/still-loading/2022/10/19/dollars-to-me...
- inemesitaffia 3y agoIsn't this DSL vs fiber?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]