Susan Crawford, author of Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age who also ironically shares a name with a telecom fatcat, has published an analysis of the recent Google fiber deal in Huntsville Alabama. This deal differs from all previous deals in that the city will build and own the fiber network and that Google has only committed to lease capacity on it, leaving the city the option to lease to other internet service providers and thus engender competition for internet access. It is a utility model for connectivity that has had great success in other nations, but is contrary to the way American telecom corporations view their role in the broadband market.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Friday March 11 2016, @12:47PM
It's kind of hilarious that a country that want to be seen as at the edge of technology have these laws that fit backwater villages with miniature popes and incumbents. Perhaps it's better to just move to get things done?