Some truth about Comcast - WikiLeaks style

Thu Dec 16 13:02:02 UTC 2010

On Dec 16, 2010, at 1:16 AM, JC Dill wrote:

> On 15/12/10 9:29 PM, Jay Ashworth wrote:
>> 
>> The underlying problem, of course, is lack of usable last-mile competition;
> 
> I agree.
> 
>> see also my running rant about Verizon-inspired state laws *forbidding*
>> municipalities to charter monopoly transport-only fiber providers, renting
>> to all comers on non-discriminatory terms, which is the only practical
>> way I can see to fix any of this.
> 
> The problem is that this should have been addressed 5-10 years ago, when there *were* alternative ISPs who could have provided competition.  Now that Comcast has a monopoly on cable, and fiber is so bleeping expensive to install, at best we might get *one* alternative to Comcast, and a duopoly is really no better (for consumers, for the marketplace) than a monopoly.

This is why I suggested it might take regulatory action, or changes in state laws.

If I want to start up a coop, or convince my local county/state they should be a neutral provider of conduits/dark fiber as roads are rebuilt, etc.. there are various barriers.  Even if the cost would be nominal.  I scaled-up some quotes to be an area-wide effort for fiber down every public road ROW, and came back with $100mil.  (you private road types need to shell out your own cash for that leg).

The barriers to doing this as a project are well known.  Even if you don't like ars, they have decent articles on these topics:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/municipal-fiber-needs-more-fdr-localism-fewer-state-bans.ars

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/monticello-appeals-court-win.ars

http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/07/telco-wont-install-fiber-sues-to-keep-city-from-doing-it.ars

Similar to the above, I could not even get Comcast to give me a quote to build to my area.  AT&T ... good luck getting any data from them.  I can tell they are filling in the gaps based on the trenching/boring going on, but there's no good way to motivate them.  And even if I decided to drop $10k to install a bunch of POTS service for 1 month to force a build, who knows if that build would bring the right level of service.  (As the POTS is regulated with a low install fee).

The incentives are clearly skewed here, but without that $100mil, reaching the 125k properties (111k residences) in my local area may be tough.  (Note: there may be actual cost savings by not running down *every* public road, but using public road mileage and property counts seemed like a good method without actually designing the final fiber plant).

My notes are here:

http://puck.nether.net/~jared/blog/?p=84

The reply I received from my elected reps:

"Additionally, offering a millage to build a network for the general public may violate recent provisions within the Michigan Telecommunication Act."

	- Jared