{"id":19920,"date":"2022-11-30T15:31:27","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T15:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/11\/30\/yet-another-study-shows-u-s-broadband-users-are-being-ripped-off-by-local-monopolies\/"},"modified":"2022-11-30T15:31:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T15:31:27","slug":"yet-another-study-shows-u-s-broadband-users-are-being-ripped-off-by-local-monopolies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/11\/30\/yet-another-study-shows-u-s-broadband-users-are-being-ripped-off-by-local-monopolies\/","title":{"rendered":"Yet Another Study Shows U.S. Broadband Users Are Being Ripped Off By Local Monopolies"},"content":{"rendered":"

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from the do-not-pass-go,-do-not-collect-$200<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

For decades, we\u2019ve discussed how U.S. broadband is generally spotty, expensive, and slower than many countries due to regional monopolization. And, for just as long, we\u2019ve highlighted how U.S. policymakers in both parties comically go out of their way to not even acknowledge that monopolies are a problem, often instead employing vague, causation-free rhetoric about a mysterious digital divide<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Enter a new study by Consumer Reports that analyzed the broadband bills of more than 22,000 Americans from more than 50 states<\/a>. Unsurprisingly, the study found that Americans routinely pay significantly more for broadband than their European counterparts, get slower speeds, and are routinely nickled-and-dimed through a variety of sleazy, below-the-line surcharges:<\/p>\n

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More than a dozen ISPs were found to charge company-imposed fees\u2014also known as junk fees\u2014under names such as \u201cnetwork enhancement fee,\u201d \u201cinternet infrastructure fee,\u201d \u201cderegulated administration fee,\u201d and \u201ctechnology service fee.\u201d They can surprise consumers when they appear on monthly bills, and can enable providers to raise prices without seeming to violate marketing or contractual price commitments.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is what you get when you have neither healthy market competition nor competent regulatory oversight. Instead, we have generally embraced regulatory capture disguised as a \u201cfree market conservative\u201d policy approach. This generally involves the federal government turning a blind eye as regional monopolies mindlessly consolidate, crush all competition in their wake, then abuse this vacuum to rip off captive customers with a rotating array of spurious surcharges. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a fun game you can play at home: try to find one<\/strong> instance of an FCC Commissioner from either<\/strong> party clearly<\/strong> criticizing the regional monopolies directly responsible for substandard broadband at absolutely any point in the last six years. <\/p>\n

You won\u2019t find it. What you\u2019ll find instead is a bunch of overly cautious, causation-free rhetoric about how we really should fix the \u201cdigital divide\u201d or \u201chomework gap.\u201d And a bunch of policies where the primary approach involves throwing millions in additional subsidies at the same regional monopolies that have spent the last 35 years demolishing any competitive new upstart that enters the telecom sector. <\/p>\n

In response, the U.S. press has also <\/strong>generally adopted telecom policy rhetoric that acts as if the digital divide just mysteriously dropped out of the sky one day<\/em>, and isn\u2019t the direct and obvious result of unchecked regional monopolies, regulatory capture, and the widespread state and federal corruption that protects it all. <\/p>\n

The solution to the problem exists. It\u2019s highly localized, open access fiber networks built by municipalities, cooperatives, smaller local companies, and regional utilities (see our recent report<\/a> on this very subject). Not only do our policymakers not acknowledge that this is the path forward, they very often can\u2019t even acknowledge that telecom monopolies exist, making it kind of hard to fix the problem. <\/p>\n

\nFiled Under: broadband<\/a>, competition<\/a>, corruption<\/a>, digital divide<\/a>, fcc<\/a>, high speed internet<\/a>, monopoly<\/a>, prices<\/a>, regulatory capture<\/a>, telecom<\/a>
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