pete:

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Profit, as the impetus for improvement of our nations telecommunications structure, is dead. It’s not that capitalism doesn’t work, it’s that within the realm of telecommunications, there is no capitalism. Competition is the counterbalance to profit, and one cannot work without the other. If profit is the horse that pulls the cart, then competition is the reign that guides it. Telecommunications companies have free reign to reap windfall profits, because it is next to impossible for anyone to challenge the oligopolists.

The entire structure of telecommunications services in the US needs an overhaul. The single largest inhibitor of innovation is the astronomical cost of laying down new infrastructure. Land-use rights are all wrapped up. Private companies in bed with the government. It’s time to throw them out. Nationalize the infrastructure just like we do our roads and bridges. Sell access to the highest bidder, then create a closed loop reinvestment law so that money from the lease of the infrastructure doesn’t get redirected to ***** pork projects.