Re: Yup; the Internet is screwed up.

[Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu]

On Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:59:38 PDT, Jeroen van Aart said:
> Maybe flat rate local phone calls is one of the reasons broadband lags 
> behind here. Because your bills actually increase with broadband. From a 
> mere $10 to something like $30 and up per month. That's a considerable 
> difference for many households.

That *is* a consideration for many, but it's generally not regarded as one of
the biggest issues.  The lack of an enforced build-out similar to what Ma Bell
had to do 50 years ago for telephone service, and related regulatory issues
that result in most areas having essentially one telco and one cable operator,
both of whom are free to pick-and-choose their service areas, is a bigger
issue.

(Biggest single issue? Probably that some companies got really big incentives a
number of years ago to deploy broadband, and were allowed to pocket the money
without actually deploying.  Will take quite a bit to reverse *that* fiasco...)

Attachment: _bin
Description: