Free access to measurement network

John Osmon josmon at rigozsaurus.com
Sat Dec 16 23:19:22 UTC 2017


> My point was that consumers voted out thousands of independents by
> taking service from incumbents instead of independents. Thousands have
> closed up shop. Where independents are available, it's still tough
> getting customers if the incumbents have a service that mostly works
> (over say 5 to 10 megs), even if the independent offers service
> comparable to the incumbent's advertisements. 

In my neck of the woods, most independents only sold layer 3 services.
and depended upon others for layer 2 services.  The independents had
a booming business with those conditions and consumers had an array of
choices for ISPs.

Then, the layer 2 operators started offering combined layer 2/3 services
at a price point below the layer 2 only price needed to get to the
independents.  Unsurprisingly, the consumers flocked to the cheaper
services.

I've always felt if a company used a public right of way to reach a
consumer, they should be prohibited from being a layer 3 provider.
Or, at a minimum, they need to sell layer 2 services to themselves at
the same price they charge others.  I've known lots of people that would
be happy to compete with the big boys under those circumstances.



More information about the NANOG mailing list