RoadRunner nonsense

[Richard Piper]

On Thu, 2008-02-28 at 14:25 -0600, Luke -Jr wrote:
> On Thursday 28 February 2008, Phil Thayer wrote:
> > And if a user really doesn't like what they are doing they can always switch
> > to another ISP.  If there is not another cable ISP then switch to DSL. 
> > There are other options available to most users of the internet.
> 
> Not in the US. Cable and DSL companies are given a regional monopoly.

Actually that ended before you were born Luke. Now the what was termed
ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Company) a.k.a. ATT, and the Cable
companies have a virtual monopoly based on "cost-of-entry." Example, my
ISP (Everest) has been constrained from expansion by a lack of capital
funds to a small geographic footprint within the KC Metro area.

I will grant you that there are some regional governments that limit
access to public right-of-way, but I'm pretty sure the Telecom Act
removed the ability of cities to grant sanctioned monopolies to single
providers.

Rick