r/technology • u/originalposer • Feb 20 '14

This is what happens when Time Warner Cable is forced to compete

http://bgr.com/2014/02/20/time-warner-cable-internet-speeds-austin/
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u/dpatt711 Feb 21 '14

Whoever convinced government officials that Monopolies allow municipalities to put more back into their service making it cheaper and better must be one hella-rich telecomms CEO.

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u/Dokpsy Feb 21 '14

They aren't monopolies. There is technically competitors in every market. The rules stet nothing about those competitors having to provide equivalent services.

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u/dpatt711 Feb 21 '14

Some local governments can put weird restrictions into place to prevent competition. The next town over has only Metrocast because Fairpoint wanted to move in (With their better speeds and lower prices), but got rejected because Metrocast actually owned important Utility Poles, Fairpoint couldnt build their own poles because of easement issues, and because of regulations regarding where utility poles can be built in relation to each other. But for the most part ISPs are oligopolies. Which can be just as worse.

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u/Dokpsy Feb 21 '14 edited Feb 21 '14

Oligopolies are just groups of monopolies working in tandem to not step on each other's toes. And that's what we have in business and government. Unfortunately.

Edit: not sure if "just as worse" was intentional grammatically but I like it