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As I pointed out in my earlier post, I don't agree that fiber cables are anything like roads (or sewage, for that matter). "Infrastructure" means many things, and it's certainly not obvious that the same solution is the best for all. My point was actually that when the inherently monopolistic aspect is factored out the free market can flourish. This is how it works in Europe. I live in a Western European country. This is not how it works here. ISPs own their own cables. Yet I have four of them offering me service, four of them over fiber, but also cable, DSL and 4G. Yes, it's expensive. Many private investments are, yet they still get made. Yes, it's redundant. Reliability depends on it. From what I've read, our situation is hardly atypical, as private installation seems to be the case in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Moldova, Slovakia and others. The US case, on the other hand, it's hardly representative of a free market, and your problems can not be attribute to it. |
The earlier post:
Except fiber cables are not at all like roads, in that you can run dozens side by side in less space than a single water pipe.
Ah. That's a great point actually. Maybe the solution is just to have the public provide and support this "fiber pipe". Not the fiber; Just the pipe. This would lower the barriers to competition for last mile connectivity. I still think this ought to be insulated from the upstream connectivity providers. To continue the analogy: The cables are self-driving uber-like taxies and the pipe is the rode. I want regulation to ensure every taxi is totally interoperable with every private freeway/bridge/airline in a given area. I also want the option to just use the taxi for local services. I don't want a taxi cartel to tell me where to shop.
I live in a Western European country. This is not how it works here.
Okay. I'm pretty ignorant about these issues. I'm operating from a cached worldview. I did some searching and I'll concede this point. I'm a sucker for "Europe has this figured out already" narratives. I still like the idea. In general I'm opposed to government protected monopolies. If monopoly is the emergent reality then it should be reduced to the narrowest causal factor and kept under government control. Everything that remains should be returned to the free market.