"Ben Scott" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Of course, cable companies *are not* a free market, since they've > been granted a monopoly by the local government in the local area.
That's not exactly true, at least not in most cases. Most municipalities grant cable companies a NON-EXCLUSIVE 10 year contract to provide cable services to the town or city. What this means in practice, is that in the smaller towns you typically have one cable company (Comcast, Adelphia, etc.) who is the exclusive provider by default of competition. In other words, these small towns are a winner-takes-all situation because any competition which could legally enter into that town doesn't think they can get enough takers to make it worth their while. If you look at the municipalities where there are multiple providers (like Boston area towns with both Comcast and RCN) you'll find that not only are the rates lower, but that there are enough people likely to switch to justify a company like RCN coming in well after the initial company is entrenched. In most cases, if you actually read the town's contract with the cable provider for that town, you'll find it's a non-exclusive contract. The reason no one else has shown up to the party is because there's not enough cake to go around :) -- Seeya, Paul _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss