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> Anyone who comes up with a reasonable way of bypassing the natural local monopolies of cable companies is going to make a fortune. That reasonable way is for
by simoncion 13y ago
> Anyone who comes up with a reasonable way of bypassing the natural local monopolies of cable companies is going to make a fortune.
That reasonable way is for municipalities to gather some courage and run their own open-access fiber. Until municipalities realize that the monopolies that they've granted their "local" cable companies are now working fiercely against the interests of their citizenry, real change in this space won't happen.
To anyone who's thinking of trotting out the old "The US is too spread out to make that feasible!" canard: NYC, SFO, and SJC have slower, poorer, more expensive per bps residential broadband options than Chattanooga, TN does. Make sure to carefully examine the population densities and regions surrounding each of those metro areas before making your argument. :)
- cbhl 13y ago"Decision-making power in the US is too spread out to make that feasible!" If you wanted to run a fiber-optic line between SFO and SJC, you'd probably have to ask at least three or four different county governments, never mind the state, federal, or municipal governments. Take a look, for example, at the mess that is keeping Caltrain funded every year.
- eli_gottlieb 13y agoThat problem is mere politics and provides no fundamental technological barriers.
- eseehausen 13y agoYou're right, but that makes it sound more, not less, difficult to accomplish.