Let the games begin. Mr. Stephenson makes this idle threat without articulating the reasons why AT&T’s U-verse service would be harmed by Title II regulation. I will state the reasons why it is bad for the industry for him. First of all AT&T is worried that changing the regulatory structure will not allow them the pricing flexibility to compete with other providers such as the cablecos. Secondly, the FCC may mandate that AT&T unbundles its infrastructure to competitors. If I were AT&T’s CEO, I would be worried about these things. True, Chairman Genachowski stated that the FCC would not do these things, but politicians and bureaucrats are always making promises they do not keep. The picture is not any better for competitors entering these markets, the regulatory hurdles may provide barriers to entry for them. If the FCC is to promote broadband competition (not sure this is their goal), then converting broadband services to a quasi-Title II managed service is going to have the opposite effect.
Back when Google announced it was looking for cities to test its fiber-to-the-home trial network, we profiled a host of municipalities that tried every possible publicity stunt in the book to get the search engine giant’s attention. These included a North Carolina city council member who promised to name his offspring after Google’s co-founders, along with the mayor of Topeka… who tried to rename his town “Google, Kansas.”
But we missed a group of residents from the city of Ventura, California, whose website declares “Give Ventura the Google fiber or the puppy gets it!” in Hostage Situation Gothic font.
“You heard us,” the site adds. “And yes, we’re totally serious. Totally.”
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