Look, when companies like Netflix and the rest start getting to big (taking money away from cable campanies), they will get reprimanded by the cable companies. All big cable has to do is make video streaming a pain in the but by throttling your internet connection. Streaming services are at the mercy of big cable. A la cart tv services from anybody esle that's not big cable or a big tv network is just a pipe dream.
The cable co's won't be in the drivers seat when there are 4 different ways to access the same content (coax, fiber, copper and Sat) and their model is completely broken because everyone skips all of their commercials on their DVR.
At that point the wires will be in the ground and they'll just be happy to keep their jobs.
I am not as optimistic as Ben about competition solving this issue through the free market (this assumes that the cable companies are operating in a free market in the first place, which they are not).
There is simply too much area in this country to cover and Fios and other newcomers are only going to show up in the densest urban areas where the subscriber per square mile ratio is high. For the other 50% of the country (far flung suburbia, exurbia and rural areas) they won't bother and we will all be stuck with the same old same old... cable companies who have been handed monopolies by local municipalities who can do whatever they want and who are rarely challenged. The "free market" this is not.
That is why FCC intervention is necessary. Just as AT&T and the Bells were forced to share their line (lines they built on public rights of way mind you) the cable companies should be forced to open themselves up to real competition. These companies built their empires using government contracts which lock the competition out. The time has come for them to really compete.
In the meantime, I do believe that new tools like Google's throttling detection software will help the average consumer become more informed about their bandwidth. Right now ISP's can lie to your face and tell you one thing and do another and there s no accountability or recourse. As internet streaming and downloads become more important these tools hopefully will become more mainstream and keep the ISP's honest.
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Look, when companies like Netflix and the rest start getting to big (taking money away from cable campanies), they will get reprimanded by the cable companies.
All big cable has to do is make video streaming a pain in the but by throttling your internet connection.
Streaming services are at the mercy of big cable. A la cart tv services from anybody esle that's not big cable or a big tv network is just a pipe dream.
The cable co's won't be in the drivers seat when there are 4 different ways to access the same content (coax, fiber, copper and Sat) and their model is completely broken because everyone skips all of their commercials on their DVR.
At that point the wires will be in the ground and they'll just be happy to keep their jobs.
I am not as optimistic as Ben about competition solving this issue through the free market (this assumes that the cable companies are operating in a free market in the first place, which they are not).
There is simply too much area in this country to cover and Fios and other newcomers are only going to show up in the densest urban areas where the subscriber per square mile ratio is high. For the other 50% of the country (far flung suburbia, exurbia and rural areas) they won't bother and we will all be stuck with the same old same old... cable companies who have been handed monopolies by local municipalities who can do whatever they want and who are rarely challenged. The "free market" this is not.
That is why FCC intervention is necessary. Just as AT&T and the Bells were forced to share their line (lines they built on public rights of way mind you) the cable companies should be forced to open themselves up to real competition. These companies built their empires using government contracts which lock the competition out. The time has come for them to really compete.
In the meantime, I do believe that new tools like Google's throttling detection software will help the average consumer become more informed about their bandwidth. Right now ISP's can lie to your face and tell you one thing and do another and there s no accountability or recourse. As internet streaming and downloads become more important these tools hopefully will become more mainstream and keep the ISP's honest.