On Mon, 7 May 2001, Fletcher E Kittredge wrote:
BTW, if you spend much time with regulators and lawyers, you will be aware that there is a major difference between the cable network and the PSTN. After the mid-1930's, the PSTN was built by a company which was guaranteed a specific, profitable rate of return. The cable network was built by many small entrepreneurs who were not guaranteed a profit nor even solvency. For that reason, the PSTN is more arguably a public resource.
Except that most of today's cable systems were built while municipalities could, and did, grant exclusive franchises. Overbuilding an incumbant cable operator is as expensive and risky as becoming a CLEC - probably the reason that neither CLECs nor cable overbuilders are showing much commercial success.
If you can't tell the legal difference between the above cases, I recommend you stay out of this discussion.
The legal differences quite clear - very different regulatory regimes enforced by different levels of government. The ethical differences are less clear - both ILECs and cable companies grew under monopoly regimes, making use of public rights-of-way. The current, "de-regulatory" environment gives both ILECs and incumbent cable carriers a very unfair advantage over new entrants.
call AT&T/MediaOne/TCI, AOL/Time Warner, Adelphia, or Charter "small entrepreneurs." These guys engage in monopoly tactics that rank right up there with those of the ILECs.
1) You quoted me out of context. 2) Do you have a point? Obviously the above are not small entrepreneurs. But then, I never said they were.
A very simple one: we are not seeing much in the way of serious competition, and HR1542 will simply make things worse. ************************************************************************** The Center for Civic Networking PO Box 600618 Miles R. Fidelman, President & Newtonville, MA 02460-0006 Director, Municipal Telecommunications Strategies Program 617-558-3698 fax: 617-630-8946 mfidelman@civicnet.org http://civic.net/ccn.html Information Infrastructure: Public Spaces for the 21st Century Let's Start With: Internet Wall-Plugs Everywhere Say It Often, Say It Loud: "I Want My Internet!" **************************************************************************