Sam,
The problem here is how do you define a monopoly, a
The definition is of course "the other provider" :-)
No seriously, definition of Monopoly...
1) I believe to own the title of a "Monopoly", there has to be some scale
involved. Anyone under 10mil annual revenue is exempt.
2) A Monopoly is someone that has an advantage that creates a unpassable
barrier to entry for their competitor.
Monopoly does NOT mean "only/sole provider" in town.
A WISP could NEVER be a "Monopoly", because anyone else can start a WISP in
town, anyday that they like.
A new entrant however, can not have the exclusive franchise that the other
already has. Or the cash scale, to take all or nothing of the huge statewide
market, qualifying for the rights.
Nor is it viable to dig up the streets and lay new cable, and have a chance
at profitabilty, with the minimal market share of the few that would
initially convert.
When we competed against Cox, when it came down to it, they just gave
broadband away for free, until we went away, as their operations were
subsidized by all the other live markets.
If their market won't bear the cost for an independent ISP to offer service
than the argument has been settled that the public is satisfied with the
price/performance that they are receiving.
Wrong, monopoloes existing is what prevents that from being true. The
monopoly provider has unfair leverage that can squash the new entrant, even
if a good percentage of the consumers would desire it. Its the above
mentality that allows the US to be 17 place horders behind the rest of the
world in Broadband. The truth is, the public will settle for less than they
want, and take the best deal they can find, but that does not mean that they
are "satisfied". Encouraging competition is what forces providers to give
more, so that eventually consumers will also get what they want and be
"satisfied".
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Tetherow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 12:56 AM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Look how ComCast deals with P2P
Tom DeReggi wrote:
No offense taken. Its the opinions from all, that allows us to reconsider
a better balanced perspective.
I may have been a "bit over the top" on my previous statements, but none
the less, I do not agree with Comcast's position on this topic.
It doesn't sit right with me, and I don't think it will sit right with
the consumers.
Apparently, some others agree, or the News arcticle would not have been
written, and caught significant media attention in other publications as
well.
Only time watching the situation will determine whether most consumers
will
agree or disagree with that type of methods.
My opinion stems deep from one core principle....
Monopolies "exclusive franchises that subsidize their broadband product"
should not have the same rights as independant ISPs.
When someone is a Monopoly the arguement "Its my network, I have the
right to do what ever I want" doesn't really apply, as the Monopoly
network is also the primary sometimes only network to serve the majority
public in an area, and therefore the "people's" only network in
practicality. True competition does not yet exist for all consumers.
These exclusive franchise rights have been extended by the county or
state to the provider, and the Government works for the people. Therefore
the people should have some say in what practices their monopoly provider
practices. Comcast is a monopoly or as near it as a company can possibly
be. One company should not be able to make the decision of what is and is
not acceptable for consumers use on the Public Internet. And I consider
Comcast part of the "public Internet". There is an obligation by these
Broadband monopolies to live by example, and deal with these topics in
the absolute most ethical way. Because if they can't do it, at their
volume, no one can. I am not convinced that Comcast has found the most
ethical way to handle the p2p issue. I do believe they are exploring to
find it, and testing the waters of what consumers feel is ethical, and
everyone else will learn from it.
The problem here is how do you define a monopoly, and can that definition
ever change? Was I the monopoly when I was the only guy in town providing
high speed? Did I lose that distinction when Qwest finally started
offering DSL?
Side note: Your arguement on comparing smtp tarpiting to p2p blocking
does have merit, but depending on how stringent it is configured. What
thresholds for max connections is acceptable to consider something an
attack versus a legitimate high volume communication? And are the
tarpiting rules treating different senders differently? What if
Comcast's tarpit was set to allow 1 Email an hour from ISPX, and argue 2
messages an hour was abuse, would that be ethical at those thresholds?
If ATT did the same thing, and said it would allow up to 2 simultaneous
connectiosn from Sprint customers but 50 connections from a TimeWarner
customer in an effort to drive custoemrs from Sprint, would it be
ethical? Should an end user not be allowed to do ANY p2p, or what max
number of sessions is an OK number?
As long as it is disclosed I don't think there is anything wrong with it.
I get charged more if I call someone on Sprint's cell network than if I
call someone on Alltel's network.
I am biased on these issues because I am daily competing against these
guys. I loose business to them on some occasions because they quote their
"6mbps unlimited access", winning over my "1mbps access". Yet, my
customers may be able to outperform Comcast with Voip or Keeping their
IPOD updated with songs (p2p), because of our more liberal non-blocking
policies. For me the big issue is disclosure, so consumers can make
decissions considering all factors. I don;t see any of Comcast's sales
literature exposing their methods? Sure there are acceptable use
policies, but do end users really understand what they are reading? Do
they have a choice if they don't like what they read?
They always have a choice. Pretty much anyone can start a wireless ISP
and there are hundreds of people on this list that prove that point, some
of us have larger learning curves than others but I poll of previous
occupations would probably produce some interesting reading.
If their market won't bear the cost for an independent ISP to offer
service than the argument has been settled that the public is satisfied
with the price/performance that they are receiving.
Sam Tetherow
Sandhills Wireless
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
<SNIP>
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