Skype Wants Telcos 'To Get Out Of The Way' > Beware the shills

reply to bostonkarl1

Re: Beware the shills

Spin it how you want but telco's have built their networks (all of them) on the back of consumers and tax payers through government granted monopoly power and through out right government incentives from the very beginning and will be able to continue to do so because of the barriers of entry into the industry.

They wouldn't exist if the government didnt step in at the beginning to help them any more than the highway would exist if the government didnt step in and help. Whether that was through outright money handed to them, tax credits, loans or profit protection does not matter. Even to this day we pay more for service than we should and that is simply because a vast majority of us have absolutely no good alternative in who we get service from.

Have you seen the pictures of the early days of telephone systems. The monopoly was given when people got tired of not being able to talk to their next door neighbor because they were on xyz telco and you were on abc telco in much the same way the wireless are with plans where you can call cheaper within the system. Our family paid more for a 4 party line in a single town telco then our friends less then half mile away paid for a private line with Ma Bell.
No one would make any money on hardwired plant if everybody on your block used a different ISP and each had to provide a complete infrastructure. Can you see 10 different cables in the ground or on the poles. There is barely enoung room on the poles for power, telco and cable.
If the last mile was so easy then why did all the telco startups that only had to sell and bill while using the telcos infrastructure. The reason was because it is more expensive then you realize.
The deal with the telco and cable monopoly was you had to provide service to everybody that wanted the service in your area. I lived in a city where a developer could sell the sub division to the highest bidder well the people that bought the homes were not happy campers when Bell South told them we do not service your neighborhood. The developer stuck the money in his pocket and the long term customers were stuck with his choice.
Sometimes the more choice you have the more you pay. A lot of give me choice sounds good on paper but does not work in the real world because you need a critical mass of customers to survive.

I am not going to argue with the state of the network or why they had to step in. I would go so far as to say they need to take over all networks and have 1 nationwide network to every home and every business. I would say that based on examples you gave yourself.

I have dealt with the networks and the businesses enough to know what it takes. I also know of developments that basically extort their customers and I would agree with any laws, codes, or mandates that eliminate them. The developers and providers should both be fined for even doing it to begin with because it was done in bad faith to restrict consumer choice and thus increase consumer cost.