Re: Will the Phone Industry Need a Bailout, Too? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat net>
Date: May 11, 2009 11:51:12 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net, "ip" <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Will the Phone Industry Need a Bailout, Too? - Bits  
Blog - NYTimes.com

> http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/will-the-phone-industry-need-a-bailout-too/?emc=eta1

The Bells don't need a bailout. What they need to do is recognize that  
their copper plant  which they did their best to keep to themselves  
despite the Telecommunications Act of 1996  has the most value as  
rental property rather than as part of a vertically integrated monopoly.

Think about it. That copper plant was overbuilt back in the days when  
Internet access was mostly dialup and many households had two or even  
three phone lines (voice, modem, FAX). There’s now tons of unused  
copper hanging on poles and buried in the ground, and while copper has  
gone up in price it is still not worth the labor to dig it up or rip  
it down and recycle it.

Rather, the best thing to do is rent it.

Under continued financial pressure, and perhaps with a good push in  
the right direction, the ILECs may find that it is to their best  
advantage to do what Congress failed to force them to do via  
legislation: lease their copper at attractive prices. And this, in  
turn, will spur innovation. All we need to do is get the ball rolling.  
The rest will happen by itself.

--Brett Glass




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