Broadband Bill Of Rights - Communities Draft Their Own Guidelines
from the make-the-providers-live-up-to-reasonable-service-levels dept
As people grow increasingly frustrated with the service levels and requirements of their broadband internet providers, it appears that many local governments are starting to impose strict guidelines for broadband providers. These guidelines require them to improve their service levels and maintain certain minimum standards - something the companies have shown little incentive to do on their own. In some cases, those local governments are fining the big broadband providers like Comcast. Of course, the broadband providers, themselves, hate these rules and regulations and are often lobbying against them. As the broadband industry is increasingly moving away from competition towards a monopoly or (possibly) oligopoly structure, it appears that someone needs to be looking out for consumers' rights. The FCC has passed, so local governments are filling the void. Update: Here's an interesting article to go with this. A new study shows that healthy competition in the telecom world leads to greater broadband adoption. Too bad the US appears to be going in the other direction.
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You've got to be kidding
So, basically, you're cheering on the biggest cause of monopoly service. Brilliant. The better solution comes from competition multiple broadband platforms (DSL, satellite, wireless, powerline, etc). Once people have an alternative, service improves.
Why don't you ask Montgomery County whether they'll let another cable provider in the county?
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Re: You've got to be kidding
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