| Good idea at this stage - but it would also be very dangerous. In Canada, in my youth - the entire telelphone network was socialized - it was a byzantine mess. You had to buy your telephone from the government (i.e. Bell, state owned). In Saskatchewan, it's still the same. Imagine if the networks were run like the DMV. Even worse - with massive, bloated government subsidies and 'guaranteed revenue stream' through taxation - they can make it impossible to compete. Pay workers way above market wages (the 'change collectors' on the Toronto Subway often earn more than $100K a year, even though the jobs should not even exist anymore). So it's probably a good idea right now maybe to force some innovation in the sector ... But is there any evidence that American wireless carriers are operating in an oligarchic manner? Here in Canada - we pay through the roof for wireless service due to very powerfully entrenched entities - we envy the US rates, which are relatively competitive. Anyhow - it's maybe a good move but it needs to be watched both for successful opportunities (if it works well it could be a shake up), but also for creeping and bloated bureaucracy. |
The free market is one way of efficiently incorporating user preferences. Responsive democratic government is another. It might be slower to adapt, but it compensates by having less perverse incentives.