> I live in Virginia and have access to ZERO wired providers and zero wireless -- all we have is satellite. That's because the state allowed Verizon and others to chomp up the lucrative northern Virginia market with FIOS without requiring that they upgrade the rest of their wired switching equipment in less-populated areas. So Verizon makes money on the nicest part of the market -- and the rest of us get nothing. And this is from a company using eminent domain to provide their service.
The eminent domain thing is a red herring. Most places in northern VA, fiber is routed along utility poles owned by the power company, or in underground conduits owned by the power company. In any case, being allowed to run some cables at their own cost in no way justifies forcing them to build miles and miles of fiber in the middle of nowhere.
The Virginia market is actually a great example of how telecom should work. There are relatively fewer regulatory barriers, so companies build infrastructure in places it makes sense to do so. My parents have 150 mbps cable or 75 mbps fiber because they live in a close-in suburb where people can afford to pay enough to justify that investment.
In contrast, the dense, wealthy neighborhood next door to where I live in Baltimore has no fiber service, even though Verizon has fiber in several buildings mere blocks away. Why? Because the city's quid pro quo for allowing Verizon to wire up anyone with fiber was wiring up the vast swaths of the city where it makes no economic sense to do so. And the end result is that nobody gets fiber.
The eminent domain thing is a red herring. Most places in northern VA, fiber is routed along utility poles owned by the power company, or in underground conduits owned by the power company. In any case, being allowed to run some cables at their own cost in no way justifies forcing them to build miles and miles of fiber in the middle of nowhere.
The Virginia market is actually a great example of how telecom should work. There are relatively fewer regulatory barriers, so companies build infrastructure in places it makes sense to do so. My parents have 150 mbps cable or 75 mbps fiber because they live in a close-in suburb where people can afford to pay enough to justify that investment.
In contrast, the dense, wealthy neighborhood next door to where I live in Baltimore has no fiber service, even though Verizon has fiber in several buildings mere blocks away. Why? Because the city's quid pro quo for allowing Verizon to wire up anyone with fiber was wiring up the vast swaths of the city where it makes no economic sense to do so. And the end result is that nobody gets fiber.