[asterisk-users] Teliax Quality of Service

[Stephen Bosch]

Douglas Garstang wrote:
>>> Stephen Bosch wrote:
>> In Canada, most of the phone systems were government-owned. It was a
>> good system, at least from the point of view of reliability. I don't
>> miss the surly (and often slow) service, but it's arguable whether
>> today's service -- in which everyone smiles nice and *pretends* to
> serve
>> you while ignoring you completely -- is any better. At least the
> bloody
>> stuff worked.
>>
>> Communications infrastructure is a strategic, national asset, and only
>> really useful if it goes everywhere, even to the unprofitable pockets
>> like Podunk Corners, North Dakota. People forget this. In a totally
> free
>> marketplace, Podunk Corners waits years for service and gets tin cans
>> and string when it finally arrives.
> 
> I disagree. There is more competition in smaller towns and rural areas.
> It isn't cost effective for the bigger carriers to move in, so the small
> ones do. They get state/federal subsidies.
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That's exactly my point. I said: "In a totally free marketplace, Podunk
Corners waits years for service..."

A subsidized marketplace is not a free marketplace. Whether you do it
with regulation and sanctioned monopoly or with subsidy, that is still a
market intervention. I can't see any other way that service to sparsely
populated areas would be financially viable.

> I'll bet you there's more
> ISP's, and CLEC's per square inch in Montana than there is in the bay
> area.

Oh, I believe you. But ultimately -- what do you mean by competition?
Who owns the cable plant? I have a hard time believing that there are
any areas in Montana with redundant last-mile infrastructure.

-Stephen-