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Yeah, I'm a bit torn on these bills. They sound awful, but there are issues that all the tech-sites seem to ignore. I'm all for competition, competition, compet
by jbuzbee 13y ago
Yeah, I'm a bit torn on these bills. They sound awful, but there are issues that all the tech-sites seem to ignore. I'm all for competition, competition, competition. We need more competition! But when municipalities get into the mix, you have at least the potential for unfair practices. A city could give itself free access to utility right of way, condemn properties in its way and hide the true cost of running a network by lumping some expenses in general utility categories. And you might end up with a very poorly-run network that every single citizen pays for via higher taxes whether they want it or not. Since citizens have to pay the city taxes no matter what, they'll drop the potentially superior commercial Internet offering instead of paying twice. Likely? Maybe. Maybe not. But worth a discussion.
- Zigurd 13y agoMaybe vertically integrated ISP service doesn't work as an investor-owned enterprise. Maybe all last-mile facilities ought to be owned by the municipality and multiple providers can be chosen for ISP services.
- jbuzbee 13y agoI recall that in the late 90's there was a regulation in place that forced the phone and cable companies to lease their coax or DSL lines to competitors who wanted to offer service as an ISP. I recall getting mailers from various little companies with offers. There was a difficulty in determining what the proper lease rate would be for the little guys. And in the end it apparently didn't work out. I don't know if the law was changed or if the cable and telephone companies were able to set the lease rate so high that nobody else could be profitable.
- Zigurd 13y agoProblem is, the "retail" ISPs were competing with the owners of the DSL lines. You would have to get the "wholesale" ISP out of the retail business.
- ensignavenger 13y agoI think it is still the law, but like you said, the wholesale prices are set way to high to be competitive.
- _delirium 13y agoI agree. I'd rather look to how deregulated electricity markets work. The last-mile infrastructure is owned by either a municipality or a regulated utility, billed at fixed utility rates, and the generation/service portion is floated on the open market. ISPs aren't identical, but I don't see a strong reason a competitive ISP market couldn't follow the deregulated market that states like Texas use for electricity. Have the last-mile infrastructure owned by some boring regulated entity, and then let ISPs compete to provide connectivity over the pipe, like generators compete to provide electricity over the wires.
- girvo 13y agoThat's how my countries new network is set up. Makes sense to me, tbh.
- HelloMcFly 13y agoIt seems many face the practical choice of lack of competition for a for-profit company with little recourse for shitty service, or a distorted market due to the government's presence. At least the latter puts gives the people some control.