[ggm]

I'm not personally sold on the baby bell model of regional monopoly. I think the whole FIOS debacle, and what happened when google started offering citywide fibre says a lot about how US telco industry operates. Lobby your way to the people who make rules and then get rules passed to shut down anything which freaks your own monopoly of indifference.

[Trav5]

I am curious and not sure what to search for. What are you referring to? Link?

[Trav5]

What was the "whole FIOS debacle, and what happened when google started offering citywide Fibre"? Why the down votes? This sounds interesting, but I am not sure what to search for to learn more.

[ggm]

I do not live in the USA. What I am told by my colleagues who do, is that the post bell regional breakup created monopolies by location in order to prevent national dominance but give each region a reliable income in a time of voice call logistics. Fast forward to the emergence of fiber as a viable technology: either you live in a location serviced by a telco who is willing to re-engineer to fiber or you don't. Verizon exemplifies the quandary, it's a huge cost, they have to carve out special data models for cable companies to stop them refusing to drop coax, it's impossible to charge sanely, their shares tank. I am sure there are happy customers but there is no clear equality of service. It's a patchwork minefield.