On Jul 23, 2014, at 8:05 AM, Matt Simmons <[email protected]> wrote:

> > Force a common-carrier status and you've crazy-glued the non-competitive 
> > model into place even tighter. 
> 
> I'm dense, so I'm not seeing the connection. Can you explain, please? 

Once you've got the Federal Government regulating them, the local franchise 
authorities lose a lot of their negotiating power with the various broadband 
carriers. Common carrier status will come with a lot of regulatory overhead for 
the carriers, but it will also come with a lot of -- Federal -- regulatory 
protectionism.

Today, if you wanted to affect change on your cable company you really only 
have to wait until your local town board is up to renew the franchise agreement 
with, say, Time Warner or Comcast, and negotiate from a hard-line position that 
you're going to insist on competitive access to outside plant. It's not "easy" 
but it's "do-able". If the FCC steps in, the Comcasts of the world will almost 
certainly wave in the general direction of the protections afforded to them by 
the new regulatory structure and tell the municipalities "Go away kid, yer 
botherin' me..."

D


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