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topics flat nest Papageno

join:2011-01-26

Portland, OR 1 recommendation Papageno Member If the FCC showed some teeth... ...and, for instance, showed factual pricing info on the broadband map, the ISPs would run crying to Congress and accuse it of "regulatory jihad." And since they pay the bribes, er, sorry, campaign contributions no one laughs them out of the room.

Barron

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Premium Member

join:2001-11-25

Litchfield Park, AZ 246.4 30.0

·Cox HSI

Motorola MB8600

Synology RT2600ac

Barron Premium Member Competition-We don't want no stinking competition :D Have you noticed that elected politicians aka pond scum only talk about competition to keep from being torched by angry citizens. When in their luxury lunch meetings with those who own them, no one talks about it because they like having a monopoly which provides so much more financial gain.



The political side of the FCC is a total joke and as they invade the technical side we will see more disastrous decisions that will probably screw this countries communication and data movement actions for decades. rfrooney

join:2006-02-26

Antioch, TN rfrooney Member You REALLY think competition is coming anytime soon? If you think the FCC will suddenly grow a pair of balls... Forget about it!



As long as the ISPs bankroll the politicians we, the consumers, are going to be screwed to the wall. masterbinky

join:2011-01-06

Carlsbad, NM masterbinky Member They're just being sportsmen-like about it. *wink wink nod nod* If they intentionally minimize their overlapping service areas, or just provide an intentionally poor offering (choosing not to upgrade/update is intentional), they can all maintain their effective monopoly positionings. Then when it comes time for a couple execs to cash out, they can propose mergers. Then they can say with all honesty that the aren't really competeing and that merging will only be an expansion of their system into areas they aren't serving. Why would they compete when they can avoid a price war and keep to their own little kingdoms without seriously worrying about their serfs, I mean customers, being stolen. They do need to maintain a little competition for show, and they do, but that little bit of controlled competition keeps the rest of the kingdom free of it by avoiding regulations that Telco's had. silbaco

Premium Member

join:2009-08-03

USA silbaco Premium Member Competition The current FCC is terrible, yes. And the lack of competition is a problem. But short of handing out money to new companies to build new networks, I am not sure exactly what anyone expects the FCC to do about it.



Sure they could (assuming they have the power) regulate how much a company can charge, require accurate meters, minimum speed offerings, etc. But at the end of the day you still have the same amount of providers. Skippy25

join:2000-09-13

Hazelwood, MO Skippy25 Member Re: Competition They can also force line sharing and help muni's get up and going.

fg8578

join:2009-04-26

San Antonio, TX fg8578 Member Re: Competition The big ISPs (Comcast, VZ, AT&T) claim that forcing line-sharing on them will dry up investment because (according to them) retail Internet service is the money-maker, not the "pipe-provider".



I say call their bluff. Force line-sharing. If there's no money in it, let them offer their retail ISP service like any other ISP. If fiber investment dries up, fine, then let the cities roll their own fiber! Skippy25

join:2000-09-13

Hazelwood, MO Skippy25 Member Re: Competition I would agree. They also claimed that with the 96 act but investment increased after that act was passed until they began bastardizing that law in which the rollouts quickly came to a snails pace.



Besides, they aren't expanding at any noticeable or worthy rate now. So what are they are going to go from a snails pace to a slugs pace? axus

join:2001-06-18

Washington, DC axus to Skippy25

Member to Skippy25

It's not a good long-term strategy. Just look at TekSavvy for an example of what happens with line sharing.

fg8578

join:2009-04-26

San Antonio, TX fg8578 Member Re: Competition said by axus: It's not a good long-term strategy. Just look at TekSavvy for an example of what happens with line sharing. I'm not familiar with TekSavvy. Can you elaborate? axus

join:2001-06-18

Washington, DC axus Member Re: Competition



Check the forum for complaints

»TekSavvy In Canada, TekSavvy line-shares from Bell. Bell never gets around to fixing problems on lines going to TekSavvy customers. I had similar problems way back when I used Earthlink DSL, they were dependent on Verizon.Check the forum for complaints

fg8578

join:2009-04-26

San Antonio, TX fg8578 Member Re: Competition OK its not unusual for competitor ISPs to get wholesale broadband from an incumbent telco for resale purposes, but I've never heard of a competitor ISP getting wholesale broadband from a cable company. Not saying it hasn't happened, just that I've never heard of it. fg8578 fg8578 to silbaco

Member to silbaco

said by silbaco: The current FCC is terrible, yes. And the lack of competition is a problem. But short of handing out money to new companies to build new networks, I am not sure exactly what anyone expects the FCC to do about it.



Sure they could (assuming they have the power) regulate how much a company can charge, require accurate meters, minimum speed offerings, etc. But at the end of the day you still have the same amount of providers.



The cablecos never had to do that, but I understand some of them offer wholesale bandwidth to third-party ISPs, so its not like they don't know how to do it, or don't have the technology to do it. The FCC could force line-sharing on the incumbent ISPs, just as the telcos had to do in the late 90s and early 00s.The cablecos never had to do that, but I understand some of them offer wholesale bandwidth to third-party ISPs, so its not like they don't know how to do it, or don't have the technology to do it.

cork1958

Cork

Premium Member

join:2000-02-26 cork1958 to silbaco

Premium Member to silbaco

"Sure they could (assuming they have the power) regulate how much a company can charge"



Unfortunately,

That is EXACTLY what they need to do!

buzz_4_20

join:2003-09-20

Biddeford, ME 1 recommendation buzz_4_20 Member Sure there's plenty of competition For High Speed access I can get Time Warner and... right nobody. BiggA

Premium Member

join:2005-11-23

Central CT BiggA Premium Member Regulation, not competition We're going to have to regulate, as there are many places where it is economically unfeasible for there to be serious competition. axus

join:2001-06-18

Washington, DC axus Member Re: Regulation, not competition Ma Bell was a regulated monopoly, I think it's bad idea. I think the government could subsidize 100% people who have credible plans to build last mile networks, and then own the network after 10 years or something like that. BiggA

Premium Member

join:2005-11-23

Central CT BiggA Premium Member Re: Regulation, not competition You might be able to get one GPON system and one HFC system in many areas... urban areas can support up to three systems, but even then, you'd leave a large swath of the country still with only one... hence regulation. AmericanMan

Premium Member

join:2013-12-28

united state AmericanMan Premium Member Actually I hear there's plenty of legitimate competition... in the DC/NOVA area, where most of these politicians live.



I think that it would be a great eye-opening experiment if Congress would agree to have their home Internet (and cell phones, via an app) throttled to dialup or 1X speeds (I'm thinking abound 128 kbps, max) for a few days so they can see how the "other half" lives. Zombiegamer

join:2012-07-31 Zombiegamer Member Competition What I do not understand is why do people always associate competition with low prices. Look at all other areas, grocery stores, or even gas stations. Each one of these face stiff competition but while they may run offers but it does not mean it lowers prices. If you have two gas stations a half mile apart, do you see them driving down prices to keep customers. Competition will force better services but I cannot see it lowering costs. your comment..

