Perhaps include re Britain

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Dave Burstein [daveb () dslprime com]
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 6:26 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: Perhaps include re Britain

> Dave

As I wrote the previous note on competition, Richard Bennett came
through with some comments on Britain worth enlarging. If this gets
over in time, perhaps add the below to my previous.

Britain is the poster child for "structural separation" creating
competition, and they have possibly the most vigorous retail
competition in the world. However, British prices are significantly
higher than France, pointing out the weakness of "structural
separation" as a total solution. BT wholesale has been conceded close
to a monopoly, but partially de-regulated. The result is
significantly higher prices than in other countries, and company
leverage going forward that will probably raise prices/reduce
competition enough to matter.

       Deregulation of BT Retail is working pretty well, with 15 ISPs
competing.  BT Wholesale, still a dominant carrier, isn't working
well as Richard notes. Again showing you need some strong competitors
for competition to be the solution. db



> From: Richard Bennett [richard () bennett com]
> Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 3:52 PM
> To: David Farber
> Subject: Cerf's comments on Britain out of date
>
> Recent comments by Vint Cerf offering the British model to the US are
> actually quite odd, as Britain is moving in a direction that's more
> US-like, where the next-generation fiber infrastructure will be funded
> by services. The general idea is that British Telecom can pay for new
> infrastructure with services and *very high wholesale prices* for some
> period of time, and only after that will the wholesale price resemble
> operational cost. See this article on comments by the head of Ofcom,
> Britain's FCC:
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/04/ed_richards_fibre_intellect/print.html
>
> The boss of Ofcom has given the clearest indication yet that regulators
> are ready to offer BT more control over a next generation UK broadband
> infrastructure in exchange for investment.
>
> In a speech in London at IT bigwig yacking shop Intellect yesterday, Ed
> Richards sympathised that "operators" who might invest in new
> infrastructure (read: BT) need to know that watchdogs will let them
> "make and keep" a rate of return on the investment.
>
> That will likely mean allowing BT to operate a fibre network at a big
> competitive advantage, via high wholesale charges to other broadband
> providers who want to use the lines.
>
> It's very unlikely that Ofcom would let BT run a national fibre network
> as a traditonal incumbent monopoly. German regulators have tried the
> same trick to tease more investment in fibre from Deutsche Telekom, and
> are facing court action from the European Commission as a result.
>
> Richards said: "They [investors in fibre] need a time horizon that gives
> them a degree of assurance for a realistic period in the future; that
> they know for example that the regulator will not suddenly change the
> rules of the game to reduce the returns just as the rewards for the risk
> start to flow in."
>
> RB
>
> David Farber wrote:
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> > Date: July 24, 2008 9:12:50 AM EDT
> > To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Telcos hurting national interest says Vint Cerf
> > - Father of Internet
> >
> > July 22nd, 2008
> > Telcos hurting national interest says Vint Cerf - Father of Internet
> > <http://blogs.zdnet.com/Foremski/?p=289&tag=nl.e539>
> >
> > I spoke with Vint Cerf at the Fortune Brainstorm conference in Half
> > Moon Bay. I asked him about net neutrality and the problems created by
> > Telcos in trying to own the gateways to the Internet.
> >
> > Here is the video, the quality is very high contrast because of the
> > lighting but the content is fascinating. Mr Cerf talks about how he
> > was misquoted on the subject of net neutrality and offers a solution
> > to the current issues around broadband Internet.
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > Video at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-dLq3uIJos>
> >
> >
> >
> >
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