Obama says FCC should reclassify internet as a utility

[Hobbes]

Actually, you very well may not have paid for your internet when you paid your bill, because a good deal of service is actually subsidized by other areas of business. For instance, historically business accounts tend to be more profitable and residential not so much. And all of Oklahoma isn't near as profitable as just the Dallas/Ft Worth area is. From what I've seen and heard I suspect all this talk about about regulating the internet is going to put a chill on network upgrades. After all, why should a company invest money in infrastructure when the FEDS might just waltz in and declare that it's under they're control. And decide what, if any, return you're gonna make on that investment.

Have the feds not been in control all along?

Again, it was the telecoms who waltzed into court several years ago to change the existing internet regulation structure, not the FCC.
The FCC is only responding to demands made by the telecoms.
Its not the other way around.

 

[Hobbes]

Actually, you very well may not have paid for your internet when you paid your bill, because a good deal of service is actually subsidized by other areas of business. For instance, historically business accounts tend to be more profitable and residential not so much. And all of Oklahoma isn't near as profitable as just the Dallas/Ft Worth area is. From what I've seen and heard I suspect all this talk about about regulating the internet is going to put a chill on network upgrades. After all, why should a company invest money in infrastructure when the FEDS might just waltz in and declare that it's under they're control. And decide what, if any, return you're gonna make on that investment.

Do you see how absurd this is Mike.

you are arguing that when I made my payment I MAY NOT have been paying for my internet service so the ISP is entitled to do whatever they want to me.

 

[Mike_60]

There is regulated and unregulated services. The telcos are forced to sell their regulated services to competitors customers at below the cost of providing those services (they're reselling). They're even forced to provide space in they're buildings, access to their networks, maintain those facilities, and pretty much anything else they want. So yes, I'm sure the telcos would like the regulating to end so they can run they're businesses.

 

[Hobbes]

There is regulated and unregulated services. The telcos are forced to sell their regulated services to competitors customers at below the cost of providing those services (they're reselling). They're even forced to provide space in they're buildings, access to their networks, maintain those facilities, and pretty much anything else they want. So yes, I'm sure the telcos would like the regulating to end so they can run they're businesses.

So a post above you said I may have not been paying for my internet service and now you are telling my I may be paying for someone else's internet service.

Which is it?

Cause I'm pretty damm sure I'm paying $60 a month for something.
And now you want me to endure slower internet and advertisements and blocked websites.

 

[Mike_60]

Do you see how absurd this is Mike.

you are arguing that when I made my payment I MAY NOT have been paying for my internet service so the ISP is entitled to do whatever they want to me.

That is a bit of an exaggeration don't you think. You do have other options, if you don't like one company then switch to something different and let the free market decide winners and losers.

 

[Hobbes]

That is a bit of an exaggeration don't you think. You do have other options, if you don't like one company then switch to something different and let the free market decide winners and losers.

You haven't been keeping up with the thread have you Mike?

 

[Mike_60]

So a post above you said I may have not been paying for my internet service and now you are telling my I may be paying for someone else's internet service.

Which is it?

Cause I'm pretty damm sure I'm paying $60 a month for something.
And now you want me to endure slower internet and advertisements and blocked websites.

I don't know about you or your situation specifically.

 

[Mike_60]

You haven't been keeping up with the thread have you Mike?

I skimmed through it.

 

[Hobbes]

I skimmed through it.

I could tell.

 

[Mike_60]

The main point that I was trying to inject is that the money you pay monthly is far from all profit. The cost of building and maintaining the network is huge.