<story><title>Want 50Mbps Internet in your town? Threaten to roll out your own</title><url>http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/want-50mbps-internet-in-your-town-threaten-to-roll-out-your-own.ars</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>timmaah</author><text>That tells me there is a huge market waiting to be tapped by the right company. 20 years ago there were barely any cell companies and now people (and phone companies) are dropping their land lines left and right.&lt;p&gt;Up here in Burlington VT there is about to be some heads rolling on how the gov handled the gov run phone/internet company.</text></item><item><author>ytNumbers</author><text>In large parts of the USA, there is only one (or fewer) decent Internet providers. It&apos;s hard to let the free market decide when there is no real competition.</text></item><item><author>RiderOfGiraffes</author><text>I&apos;m not an American, and I was wondering if you could help me to understand this ...&lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;  &amp;#62; Internet really needs to become a public utility
  &amp;#62; operated by the city/state on cost, rather than
  &amp;#62; to line the pockets of greedy corporations...
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;
How is this not effectively Socialism?  Isn&apos;t the system you currently have simply Capitalism in action?&lt;p&gt;Under Capitalism, shouldn&apos;t people simply choose another supplier when your ISP does stupid things?</text></item><item><author>nuclear_eclipse</author><text>And as I found out first hand, if the only internet provider in town starts to roll out bandwidth caps, just raise a ruckus until your senator drops legislation on the table banning caps, and then watch your ISP become a sour grape and refuse to roll out DOCSIS3 in retaliation...&lt;p&gt;Internet really needs to become a public utility operated by the city/state on cost, rather than to line the pockets of greedy corporations...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Kadin</author><text>There are multiple competing cell networks because it&apos;s relatively inexpensive to set up a cell site, compared to running wires to everyone&apos;s house in the same area.&lt;p&gt;If this wasn&apos;t the case, you&apos;d have a dozen pairs of copper phone wires and as many cable TV coax lines running into your house, all by different companies -- those industries have existed for far longer than the Internet has, and have traditionally been ridiculously profitable.  That you &lt;i&gt;don&apos;t&lt;/i&gt; have more than one telephone line and one cable line is a strong indication that last-mile infrastructure is a natural monopoly.  Whoever gets to your house first basically owns you.</text></comment>
<story><title>Want 50Mbps Internet in your town? Threaten to roll out your own</title><url>http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/want-50mbps-internet-in-your-town-threaten-to-roll-out-your-own.ars</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>timmaah</author><text>That tells me there is a huge market waiting to be tapped by the right company. 20 years ago there were barely any cell companies and now people (and phone companies) are dropping their land lines left and right.&lt;p&gt;Up here in Burlington VT there is about to be some heads rolling on how the gov handled the gov run phone/internet company.</text></item><item><author>ytNumbers</author><text>In large parts of the USA, there is only one (or fewer) decent Internet providers. It&apos;s hard to let the free market decide when there is no real competition.</text></item><item><author>RiderOfGiraffes</author><text>I&apos;m not an American, and I was wondering if you could help me to understand this ...&lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;  &amp;#62; Internet really needs to become a public utility
  &amp;#62; operated by the city/state on cost, rather than
  &amp;#62; to line the pockets of greedy corporations...
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;
How is this not effectively Socialism?  Isn&apos;t the system you currently have simply Capitalism in action?&lt;p&gt;Under Capitalism, shouldn&apos;t people simply choose another supplier when your ISP does stupid things?</text></item><item><author>nuclear_eclipse</author><text>And as I found out first hand, if the only internet provider in town starts to roll out bandwidth caps, just raise a ruckus until your senator drops legislation on the table banning caps, and then watch your ISP become a sour grape and refuse to roll out DOCSIS3 in retaliation...&lt;p&gt;Internet really needs to become a public utility operated by the city/state on cost, rather than to line the pockets of greedy corporations...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nuclear_eclipse</author><text>It is also far less expensive to drop a few new cell towers (or lease space on competitors&apos; towers) than to go through the gigantic, expensive process of laying new cable/fiber.</text></comment>