End The Line Sharing, End The Competition?

from the seems-like-it-so-far... dept

The debate over whether or not regulations mandating that telcos share their data and voice lines always has both sides arguing that their proposal will increase competition. The FCC, under Michael Powell, has taken the deregulatory route, and according to one critic of the early results, it has decreased competition noticeably, and for that reason, Powell's programs should be considered a failure. As an initial assessment, the points are valid. There clearly has been less competition, but mandating line sharing doesn't necessarily make things better either. The removal of line sharing rules has at least pushed certain providers to look towards newer, better technologies, so it may not be possible to judge the results of these moves so quickly. Unfortunately, it appears that not many are willing to look at any kind of middle ground solution, that builds standardized networks which many different providers can share. Instead, we seem to get an all or nothing approach.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Karl, 15 Dec 2004 @ 11:11am

    No Subject Given

    Middle Ground?

    This is the new age of Reagonomics! Moral Values! Military invasion!

    Give the uber-corps everything they ever wanted, eliminate all competition, deregulate everything (whether needed or not). Then hopefully some pennies will filter down to us, the little people.

    Can't you see the brilliance?

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.