[jacquesm]

> Do they have a approved monopoly over all phone service, ala AT&T way back when (by this I mean do they carry all calls at some point, even if its only as a wholesale co)?

Not any more, as far as I know. But because there are plenty of restrictions on infrastructure installations and because Bell simply owns all the infrastructure that was invested in in the past Bell effectively has a finger in every pie and as a provider it is almost impossible to get around them.

[xxpor]

Hmm. I can't imagine what advantage there is to having tight restrictions on building out infrastructure. It seems like it could only help.

[jacquesm]

Classical short-term thinking. Making more money of the consumers in the short term instead of making an infrastructure that supports richer applications in the future which will lift up the whole system and hence will provide more value for everybody.