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It's Now Clear None of the Supposed Benefits of Killing Net Neutrality Are Real
Network investment is down, layoffs abound, and networks are falling apart. This isn't the glorious future Ajit Pai promised.
In the months leading up to the FCC assault on net neutrality, big telecom and FCC boss Ajit Pai told anybody who'd listen that killing net neutrality would boost broadband industry investment, spark job creation, and drive broadband into underserved areas at an unprecedented rate.
As it turns out, none of those promises were actually true.
Despite the FCC voting to kill the popular consumer protections late last year, Comcast's latest earnings report indicates that the cable giant's capital expenditures (CAPEX) for 2018 actually decreased 3 percent. The revelation comes on the heels by similar statements by Verizon and Charter Spectrum that they'd also be seeing lower network investment numbers in 2018.
It's not expected to get any better in 2019. According to analysis this week by Wall Street research firm MoffettNathanson, capital spending among the nation's four biggest cable providers (Altice, Comcast, Charter Spectrum, CableONE) is expected to decline upwards of 5.8 percent this year.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday January 25 2019, @09:38PM
Also relevant is this [opensecrets.org]. It turns out we have the best government money can buy, who knew?
And as a reminder, this kind of thing knows no political party. The people who supported net neutrality are those that got more from Google, Amazon, and maybe Netflix than they did from Verizon, Comcast, and Spectrum. This classic Eddie Murphy scene [youtube.com] explains perfectly how this is actually working.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.