Re: Frayed Ends: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 3.0
Also, to your point that competition doesn't help, when Google started rolling out Google fiber, overnight comcast cut prices and increased bandwidth to their customers.
Google and Comcast are both huge monolithic companies though, they can afford things like that. Not to argue in Comcasts favor since they were probably sandbagging on upgrades or roll outs. While altering prices is quite easy, altering services is a big deal that was likely being worked on for months/years before Google ever started building. Plenty of hidden costs that the consumer doesn't have any clue about.
We just completed changing to an all digital tv system recently and that was a monstrously expensive task in terms of labor and equipment. But that had to be done before we could even consider upgrading our internet speeds and expect them to actually work. (working around analog signal sucks)
If google rolled into a town that only had a little mom and pop company, they'd immediately be put out of business if they had to try and match prices. I have to deal with one small company and they flip right out if they lose one tiny filter because they have no room to lose a single dollar.
I think foxton makes a fair point. But when I say break them up, I mean separate them in terms of content producers and content deliverers.
I don't like that comcast owns NBC and Universal among others. They shouldn't own studios and the cables that deliver it to our television. They just shouldn't.
Then again, we all survived Ma Bell breaking up. I think it's time to give companies like Google and municipalities incentives to come into new areas.
That suggestion of a break up would be a benefit for the consumer. Not much but keeping content producers/providers from being the same thing keeps the playing field a little fairer. Was a big reason why Comcast wasn't allowed to get TWC. Wayy too much of the market along with controlling the actual content.
Well there are only so many services that can be put in one area due to space limitations. Aerial systems need clearances on the pole between themselves, other utilities, power, the road. If you have low poles in your city then you can maybe get one line on there before the others have to try being underground. Then have to deal with digging to homes/expensive roadway bores or pay for each attachment if they go back to aerial to get to houses. Many places struggle to deal with 1-2 services, let alone if more are allowed to try and move in.
