| reply to Chief Sparky
Re: Congratulations Jim Let's be sure to understand what we're talking about when we talk about investments....
True, cable co's (or ILEC's) have spent BILLIONS and TRILLIONS of dollars on their networks. But, let's be very clear that this money didn't just come out of their pockets up front. They made the investments because they were promised monopolies in their service areas in exchange for the buildout of infrastructure. Therefore, they could charge more and reinvest more money into the infrastructure while still making profits comparable to not building out the infrastructure and charging a bit less.
In the case of the ILEC's, Congress realized that they were NOT in fact pouring most of the money back into the infrastructue but were instead lining their pockets and their investor's pockets with the sky-high rates. Thus, along with other circumstances involving the Bells wanting to get into Long Distance, the TA of '96 was passed. Since then, choice for consumers has increased drastically, and long distance rates have settled into very affordable lows. And guess what? The infrastructure is still maintained, and the Bells get their money for this maintenance in the forms of Tariffs from CLECs and others who lease UNE-P. (Unbundled Network Elements). The only money Bell has to put out is their share of the cost of upkeep for THEIR customers. CLECs pay their share...
Now, finally, Cable is going to get caught playing the same game. Believe me, this will be a revolution for consumers, as innovation will now flourish as independent ISP's can build off the phone OR cable networks and beat the stodgy monopolies at their own game. |
