rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO
| Re: are you kidding? I'm not sure laying fiber across the country is the problem. At least several years ago there were complaints that too much fiber had been installed and much of it was dark. I don't know if that's still true.
It is true, however, that an improved infrastructure to the curb (each home) has been artificially retarded by oligopolies unwilling to settle for a fair return on their investment. Rather than a fair return for their investment and having to deal with potential competitors leasing their investment (keeping prices low), they want to keep if for themselves and maximize their returns. And in a competitive environment, they have an obligation to do so for their shareholders. But fair competition does not exist. If it did, Google, Microsoft and other major content providers would not be voicing opinions. They would simply move their business to the next provider -- the way capitalism is designed to work; consumers having choices and thereby keeping vendors and providers efficient and fair.
Regarding running out of bandwidth -- the cable companies seemingly prove how ridiculous this notion is. Instead of lowering prices on existing bandwidth tiers, they keep raising the bandwidth on existing tiers. The only way this model works is if the bandwidth cost of the service is not linear (that is, as bandwidth increases, costs increase at a rate that is far less than proportional) or bandwidth represents such a small cost of the overall service that they can afford to double or even triple it speeds for the same price. Rather than running out of bandwidth, they continue to innovate by replacing equipment and modems so that they can offer increased upload and download speeds.
Although we've heard about the ILECs having improved DSL equipment to offer increased speeds over the same infrastructure, they've done next to nothing regarding these technologies. Granted, running fiber is much better but they've only recently begun doing this. And they seem to fight every competitor who wants to socialize the infrastructure and offer a community option.
I just don't trust the ILECs. They are old money and they are used to having guaranteed business, guaranteed profits and measured innovation. |
