"Critics say the carriers will simply pass these fees through to consumers."
What we have here is a stealth tax. There is absolutely no way these costs will not be born by the consumer. This is the nature of business. If your costs rise, you need more revenue to cover them.
You are assuming perfectly inelastic demand (if you don't know what elasticity is in an economic context have a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasticity_(economics) ) which the wireless market market most certainly is not. The portion of a tax paid by consumers and by producers (regardless of who the tax is supposed to target) is determined by elasticity.
While I agree that you could never regulate the internet, it is how ever possible to regulate the companies that provide access to said service while operating within your jurisdiction. I disagree with your slipery slope fallicy how ever. If one applies that logic to the world at large, one must ask the question why do we even have laws at all?
While this is probably not the case, in a market as small as this one, lack of government regulation leaves open far too much of a possibility for collution between so called competitors. Your comment about satellite internet, while true, is completely unfeasible for the market at large.
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"Critics say the carriers will simply pass these fees through to consumers."
What we have here is a stealth tax. There is absolutely no way these costs will not be born by the consumer. This is the nature of business. If your costs rise, you need more revenue to cover them.
You are assuming perfectly inelastic demand (if you don't know what elasticity is in an economic context have a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasticity_(economics) ) which the wireless market market most certainly is not. The portion of a tax paid by consumers and by producers (regardless of who the tax is supposed to target) is determined by elasticity.
Except revoking effective monopoly given to Bell for the Right-of-Way on public property.
While this is probably not the case, in a market as small as this one, lack of government regulation leaves open far too much of a possibility for collution between so called competitors. Your comment about satellite internet, while true, is completely unfeasible for the market at large.