| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (41273) | 8/14/2012 1:25:15 PM | | From: LindyBill | | | | and if this could be traced to collusion, then, is it unreasonable that some form of intercession might come into play?
How? Sounds like sour grapes to me. You build your network with what's available. If the equipment available is not as good or as cheap as what you competitors are using, "tough toenails." You should have known that coming in.
You certainly can't expect some manufacturer to build you cheap, lower volume equipment. |
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| To: LindyBill who wrote (41274) | 8/14/2012 2:40:47 PM | | From: Frank A. Coluccio | | | | There has never been a good reason to suspect collusion leading to
anti-competive activity, if I follow your logic. Never mind the fact that
the "spectrum" in question, despite who bribed the government to
"own" it, is a public resource?
BTW, the expense comes deeper into the network, not the cost of chips
alone, but likely the effects on billing & who is allowed to support the iPhone,
for example, and other features requiring engineering that are, in all
likelihood, considered "proprietary" (or very close to being alike) to the
larger actors' architectures. And when have we seen this before - despite
it being far more egregious, arguably, and going for the most part unnoticed?
How about with the more explicit DSL Joint RFP, and a half-decade later
in the form of a Joint RFP for FTTP gear in the residential wireline space?
In both of those initiatives only the four, and then three RBOCs defined the
specifications, thus dictating where economies of scale would exist, despite
suboptimal designs for the purposes of the majority of competitors needs.
Agreed, there's nothing new here, but allow me to ask you bluntly:
If the two top players in a space were in fact acting in collusion to exclude
all other competitors, would that be okay in your view?
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Anyway, on the lighter-yet-deeper side of commentary, our friend Bob Frankston
only moments ago sent the following message to the Open Infrastructure Alliance
board:
I find this concept of backhaul strange. What's the BFD about getting an IP
connection to a tower? The real problem is in the completely weird idea of
licensing colors.
I'm thinking of starting a NGH (Next Gen Haberdasher) by getting the
government to grant me an exclusive right to blue. Imagine what I could do
if I owned that color. OK, perhaps I can be more precise with the exact
shade of blue. The FCC (Federal Color Commission) would be charged with
policing 100% of the distribution channels for anything cloth-based and
certifying all dyes used in the process to assure that the color usage
confirms to standards and doesn't interfere with other uses of colors.
Perhaps we should call it Ultra Royal Blue.
Of course this is expensive but a $1/Shirt surcharge would cover this and
with a regulated price $100/shirt (worth it because they would last 100
years) who would notice.
We could have structural separation by keeping the cloth business separate
from the shirt business. It would make it easier to use the colors for other
purposes as long as they did not cause interference.
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (41275) | 8/14/2012 2:50:02 PM | | From: LindyBill | | | | If the two top players in a space were in fact acting in collusion to exclude
all other competitors, would that be okay in your view?
As long as they were not using the Government to help them do it. I am completely opposed to the Sherman Anti-Trust, and all of it's supplemental laws.
Our big problem today, IMO, is "Crony Capitalism," where laws are passed to help one business over another. We are riddled with regulations, tariffs, etc, to support one business over another. Just get out of the way of the rest of business dealings if they don't involve the use of force or fraud.
Get people on the Right to accept that there is nothing wrong with a non-coercive monopoly is one of the hardest things I know of to do. Those of the Left? Don't bother to discuss it with them. |
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| To: LindyBill who wrote (41276) | 8/14/2012 3:13:53 PM | | From: Frank A. Coluccio | | | | Please stay on point, dealing in principles, rather than proselytizing over your political perceptions. The latter are temporal, at best. Cronyism, especially, could shift from right to left, back and forth, ad nauseum, just like a pendulum with the periodicity of every four or eight years.
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (41273) | 8/14/2012 3:27:04 PM | | From: Cautious_Optimist | | | | Monopoly (or oligopoly) capitalism is not a free market and does not maximize the wealth of a nation. Nor does it optimize superior technological innovation.
Like a sports referee maximizing fair competition under constantly improving rules, it is a desirable role for government to ensure the level playing field and rules for business battle.
As Alan Greenspan learned from the financial services industry, amoral "self-regulation" is ultimately not sustainable.
Even Adam Smith abhorred monopoly.
Ultimately such matters left to the players end up expensive battles between enterprises, in court, which is a massive economic cost; where deep pockets is the virtual value proposition. |
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (41277) | 8/14/2012 3:52:16 PM | | From: LindyBill | | | | Please stay on point, dealing in principles, rather than proselytizing over your political perceptions.
You asked me to tell you my stand on Monopoly, I told you. "Politics" is the study of how we interact with each other. I can't discuss my position on collusion between two companies without engaging in it.
My "politics" are my principles.
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| From: Frank A. Coluccio | 8/14/2012 6:40:18 PM | | | | | | Will the FCC Impose Fees on Smart Grid Connections?
by Michael H. Pryor | EL&P | Aug 2012
Smart grid connections are proliferating, with some 36 million smart meters' having been deployed in the United States, according to a May study. The Institute for Electric Efficiency (IEE) estimates this number will nearly double to 65 million smart meters deployed in nearly half of all households by 2015. Smart grid connections are one example of the burgeoning machine-to-machine (m2M) services market, which will create a mammoth "Internet of Things" in coming years.
This proliferation of connected devices has caught the attention of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is looking for new revenue sources to pay for the federal Universal Service program. The FCC is assessing whether to broaden the base of entities and services that would be required to contribute to the program, as well as the mechanism for assessing such fees. Among the many proposals under FCC consideration is fees on smart grid connections.
The Federal Universal Service Program
Cont.: elp-media.com
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fac: the proposed USF fee would be in addition to its utility industry kin, the SBC fee, standing for service benefit charge, which every subscriber pays already?]
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