Understanding the possibility of the internet as a utility

[pg021988]

I seem to have some concerns with the internet possibly becoming a utility but I would like them cleared up.

With this a potential possibility would this place less or more government control over the internet. I know China and Iran have placed nation-wide firewalls and I would at the least not be please to have that happen.

In my opinion the solution would be more competition. Much like South Korea and Japan, however Google Fiber refuses to make its way to Michigan so I don't see that as much of an option for me.

Can anyone enlighten me on what are the pros and cons of this POSSIBLE event that I am potentially getting wrong?

 

[Entomber]

The major barrier to expanding competition in the ISP/telecom market is infrastructure. It's prohibitively expensive for startup companies to lay their own wires down, which is why Google Fiber is in such a small rollout - they have to lay down fiber-optic cables and they have to get a positive return on their investment, which is going to be very difficult in a market which is already saturated.

Classifying Internet service as a utility would likely increase governmental control over it, slightly, but it would take away a lot of control from the ISPs, which is what we're afraid of.

 

[pg021988]

So we would possibly trade throttling for censorship? Another thing I have trouble understanding is, if the internet becomes a utility, wouldn't more usage lead to much higher bills? If I pay for 50Mbs it's unlimited, how would that change?

 

[Entomber]

censorship still exists in some form since not all content is legal on the Internet. However, the criminalization of such materials still has to be reasonably accepted by the general populace.

Actually, government intervention in utilities such as water and power is necessary to ensure that the utility companies do NOT gouge you for service.

 

[pg021988]

Wouldn't that essentially be deeming Comcast as a monopoly (which it is) and forcing them to downsize. I know that is what happened with the gas companies.

 

[Entomber]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_monopoly

 

[JustANewUser]

China and Iran have placed nation-wide firewalls

Is this real?

 

[Entomber]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Shield_Project

certain countries put heavy restrictions on what types of content are allowed over the Internet. it's real.

 

[JustANewUser]

They haven't got any liberty with the Internet... I did hear something about this, but I couldn't believe it. It's incredible.

 

[Pinhedd]

I seem to have some concerns with the internet possibly becoming a utility but I would like them cleared up.

With this a potential possibility would this place less or more government control over the internet. I know China and Iran have placed nation-wide firewalls and I would at the least not be please to have that happen.

In my opinion the solution would be more competition. Much like South Korea and Japan, however Google Fiber refuses to make its way to Michigan so I don't see that as much of an option for me.

Can anyone enlighten me on what are the pros and cons of this POSSIBLE event that I am potentially getting wrong?

Access to the internet is very much a utility, it is not however a highly regulated utility in North America. In some regions, internet access is provided by state-owned public utility corporations (SaskTel for example). Governments all around the world maintain strong control over their telecommunication sectors but in North America this is usually limited to ensuring access to phone lines (rural lines are often state subsidized) for the purposes of contacting emergency services. Most North American governments make little to no distinction between various forms of communication. Phone calls, emails, and letter mails all have similar if not identical levels of legal protection and this won't be changing any time soon.