Time to release the internet from the free market – and make it a basic right
This article conflates two different points, only one of which makes sense. First, the idea that the government can provide services at a lower cost because it doesn’t need to make a profit is laughable. Even Comcast’s profit margin is only about 10-15%. Eliminating the profit completely wouldn’t, by itself, make broadband affordable to poor people.<p>The second, implicit, point is that richer people should subsidize (via tax dollars) internet service for poorer people. That is, after all, how we handle other kinds of basic rights: Medicaid, Section 8 housing, SNAP. And that’s a fine idea! But it’s completely orthogonal to the first point.<p>In telecom, we conflate deployment and access. Under state and local regulations, anyone who wants to become an ISP also has to take on the government&#x27;s burden of ensuring access to services. If you want to compete with Comcast in New York City, you can&#x27;t build a &quot;minimal viable ISP&quot; in Chelsea. The government forces you to serve the Bronx too. That not only kills competition, it doesn&#x27;t work. Just because you force a company to build fiber in the Bronx doesn&#x27;t mean people can afford $70&#x2F;month for it.<p>In other areas of the economy, we&#x27;ve learned to separate the two policies. The government doesn&#x27;t run old-age homes--it pays private entities through Medicaid. It doesn&#x27;t run an agricultural business--it provides SNAP payments. Governments are moving away from running public housing, and instead provide Section 8 vouchers.<p>What we do in telecom, in contrast, is like rent control. Rent control turns every apartment building into a mini-HUD, which is forced to accommodate lower-income people by overcharging other residents. Like rent control, it makes no sense.