Why You Don't Have a Broadband Connection

blandthrax writes "I ran across this article on The New Republic. The long and short of it indicates that the reason why almost 90% of Americans don't have a broadband connection is because current broadband providers are preventing other ISP's from entering the fray. The result: higher prices for broadband connections and a general lack of innovation. An interesting read full of good details. And, as usual, we learn that countries such as Japan and Korea are far ahead of the US in terms of innovation and technological saturation."

Comments

This contributed to the demise of Sprint's ION ...

[doomdog]

Part of the reason that Sprint canceled their ION service was that the local telcos were screwing them over when it came to provisioning customer lines. When I had ION installed, the local telco told me it would take them 30 days to install a "conditioned" line that was suitable for ION....

Of course, when I called the telco the next day to inquire about their own DSL service, the "conditioned line" could be installed the next day....

In the end, it did take 3 weeks to get ION installed, and it was far better service than anything that DSL could provide.... I really miss ION :(

Scary.

[SlashChick]

"In Virginia, when one small town, Bristol, wanted to set up its own broadband system, Verizon lobbyists persuaded the pliant, Republican-controlled state legislature to pass a law prohibiting any town from doing so."

I found that quote very disturbing. Fortunately, I read more on the subject and found out that Bristol won a lawsuit that overturned the decision. The state is appealing the decision (imagine that), but for now, Bristol has set a precedent that says that municipalities can set up their own broadband service. It's insane that Bristol even has to go to these lengths, but at least they won.

Synopsis

[Rogerborg]

(Because it's not like anybody will read the article before spouting off):

• Residential broadband prices are rising rather than falling.
• There are 15 ISP for every 100,000 diallup customers, but only 2 ISPs for every 100,000 broadband customers.
• Broadband ISPs are 95% owned by cable and phone companies (directly or indirectly).
• Copper and cable are poor long term solutions, but there's no incentive to put in fiber-to-the-door.
• Instead of trust-busting, the FCC has gone for "deregulation", which has just allowed the Baby Bells to deny their capacity to other providers.

To synopsize the synopsis, we've screwed regarding broadband. But then, anyone that's been keeping even a casual eye on broadband for the past couple of years already knew that. The Baby Bell shutout this year was just the last nail in the coffin.

Re:What a crock of shit.

[gokubi]

His father is a damned industry whore as well.

From FAIR.org:

The AOL/Time Warner deal also showcased [Michael] Powell's nonchalant approach to personal conflicts of interest; he took part in the merger decision despite the fact that his father, Secretary of State Colin Powell, was one of AOL's directors, with lucrative stock options in the company.

Colin made $35M from his stock sales after the merger that his son approved. I wonder if the Powell's had a party when the "death" tax was repealed?