From: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com [mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] On Behalf Of .net noobie Sent: Tuesday, 13 July 2010 12:31 PM To: ozDotNet Subject: Re: [OT] Friday - Conway (or.. Labor govt) once againdelaysInternet Filter
Er, since when would that increase competition? Do we have two sets of roads, two sets of electricity *distribution* systems? becuase you have to places to buy from, it's call competition, Some things are "natural monopolies": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_monopoly Multiple companies investing capital intensive systems, rather than sharing a common infrastructure, just results in increased costs for everyone. If roads were private, do you think it would be cheaper for motorists if there were 2 highways between Sydney and Melbourne? By your argument, if there were 10 highways built, it would be even better, because there would be more competition! plus if you ever work in a place like a mine for example, you notice they have 2 of everything, so when one fails the other takes over, it's called redundancy This has nothing to do with competition. In any case, the NBN is there to provide a common set of infrastructure in a market which is a natural monopoly. Instead of a private operator collecting monopoly rent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_profit) to the detriment of consumers, a government sanctioned provider can provide the base infrastructure at a cost that doesn't maximise profits to the holder of the monopoly. Cheers Ken
