Broadband competition in Europe
On a discussion about Network Neutrality, Broadband in general and other related stuff on Slashdot, I posted a request for anyone in Europe to let me know what type of choices they had when shopping for broadband. I was curious to find out how, considering most Euro countries have Local Loop Unbundling Regulations in place, it affected European consumers’ choices in the marketplace. I did expect that I’d find there was more broadband competition in Europe, but what I didn’t expect was PAGES of it. Now, the link that was posted represents only DSL in the UK. This does not take into account that most folks there have other choices as well, such as cable, and in some cases FIOS and/or community wifi.
This is truly mind boggling, especially in light of the Judge’s decision in Earthlink’s appeal, which said, according to a CNet article–
“The FCC reasonably concluded that the benefits of unbundling were ‘modest,’” Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote in a 25-page opinion . . . for the three-judge panel.
One wonders how the FCC concluded that. Could it be that the FCC received their background information directly from the Telecomms? I can’t help wondering about the competency of the Earthlink legal team in this regard, which is sad since Earthlink, as a company, has been fighting to uphold the neutrality of the net and is one of the few ISPs that the telecomms haven’t succeeded in killing off during their big backbone grab a few years back.
There are so many examples of the fact that certain regulations encourage competition, yet the FCC and federal judges insist this is not the case. I think it’s time for a more cogent look at what exactly the FCC is doing and why.
Who is watching the watchers?
Technorati Tags: FCC, Local Loop Unbundling, LLU, Europe Broadband, Telecomms, ISP, Earthlink
