[PLUG-TALK] Google Fiber - delayed

[Russell Senior]

>>>>> "Russell" == Russell Senior <russell at personaltelco.net> writes:

>>>>> "Dick" == Dick Steffens <dick at dicksteffens.com> writes:
Dick> On 07/20/2016 05:18 PM, Russell Senior wrote:
>>> In addition to the cost benefits, public ownership of communications
>>> infrastructure can provide what private ownership won't (Google
>>> started out promising they would, then backed out), and that is an
>>> open-access model that actually fosters competition for services
>>> over shared high-capacity infrastructure.

Dick> Does Sandy fit that model? Just curious.

Russell> I don't think it does in the purest sense.  In Sandy, your ISP
Russell> is SandyNet.  Of course, you can buy some television services
Russell> (netflix,hulu,etc) over the internet, so in a sense it still
Russell> works.  Not all public networks are open-access.  It is pretty
Russell> much a necessary if not sufficient condition.  Public networks
Russell> are usually highly focused on paying off their bonds from the
Russell> construction investment, and capturing more of the revenue
Russell> stream is a way to do that.  Particularly once they are out
Russell> from under the capital debt, open-access is increasingly
Russell> viable.

Just to expand on open-access a bit.  Price isn't everything.  Policy,
that is, what you are "allowed" to do on the network, is something you
might want to shop for too.  To the extent there are restrictions on
what you can do placed by the infrasturcture owner's ISP, then
open-access is increasingly important.  Old-style DSL was open-access in
Oregon.  You could buy transit on the phone company's copper
infrastructure, but have a third party ISP actually put your bits on the
Internet.  You had a wide choice in those third party ISPs.  Some might
be okay with you hosting servers, running a mail server for your
company, etc.  Others might not, but if you have a choice, then you can
pick the one that meets your needs.  If one company owns the cable and
you have one choice of ISP on that cable, then you don't have a choice
and maybe you can't do what you need to do, or can only do it by paying
extortionate prices.  I don't think we should settle for that kind of
bondage.


-- 
Russell Senior, President
russell at personaltelco.net