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Re: What's broadband to you?

Matthew Rigdon <email@hidden> gave an interesting analysis of why the many dreams attached to broadband may never reach fruition. Essentially, that is because there is a conflict of interest where telcos will stymie the growth of broadband applications in their quest (Qwest?) to maximize profits.

That drab scenario may well come to pass but there are some other factors that **could** shift the wind here and there. What Matthew describes seems to be borne out in the history of ISDN, a technology that the telcos essentially sat on and did not develop, possibly for fear that doing so would disrupt the lucrative status quo.

On the other hand, the telcos did build a fiber infrastructure of enormous proportions in hopes of profiting on what was predicted to happen once there was enough fiber. Ironically, it is that building or, more accurately, overbuilding of the fiber infrastructure that has them in such hot water nowadays. Because of recent advances in fiber utilization, much of that huge infrastructure goes unused. Big investment, small return. That spells trouble.

Under those circumstances, we should not be surprised to see a thousand and one schemes to milk more revenue out of current utilization. It's just a survival instinct that may well be counter-productive. In a competitive environment, that kind of exploitation wouldn't last long but this isn't a very competitive sector of the economy.

The telco industry is supposed to be regulated so we then have to take a look at politics. Politicians don't always get it wrong. One thing they got right was resisting the urge to allow telcos charge by the minute for Internet acccess. The concept undergirding this is that Internet access will fuel the economy in this generation just as the Interstate Highway system fueled the post WWII boom.

I, for one, hope that they will continue this line of thought as other short-sighted proposals arise.


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References: 
 >Re: What's broadband to you? (From: Harry Pasternak <email@hidden>)
 >Re: What's broadband to you? (From: Matthew Rigdon <email@hidden>)



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