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Has the Free Market Failed Broadband?
Deregulation and lack of policy hurting U.S. market
Techdirt asks whether the free market has failed when it comes to the United States broadband industry. The piece notes how the world leaders in broadband are all countries with significantly regulated broadband environments; it also points to this America's Network piece points out how the country by and large has no telecom policy. Mike at Techdirt tries to answer the question: "Why does unregulated competition in telecom work so well in theory, but so poorly in practice?"

Most recommended from 143 comments



Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

6 recommendations

Matt3

Premium Member

Why does it work so poorly in practice?

"Why does unregulated competition in telecom work so well in theory, but so poorly in practice?"

One word, well ... ok, two words ...

Corporate Greed

Charge more while providing less = higher profits = happy shareholders = bigger bonuses for execs.

JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium Member
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD

2 recommendations

JTRockville

Premium Member

Q: Why are results so poor in practice? A: Corporate Greed!

Remember, the goal of a corporation is to generate profit, not to provide service. Corporations can generate much more profit by underserving, than by providing state-of-the-art service to everyone.

As long as the environment remains uncompetitive (2 providers isn't exactly make a competitive market), this strategy is wildly successful.