What's the deal with Net Neutrality?

a.


So, this is one of the few complaints that are... for lack of better words, not vague as pineapple. It seems to be a serious complaint, a legitimate worry. So what bad things come with the cable networks becoming public utilities? I know we all love it and can hardly wait for this to happen, but why is it cited as a negative effect of NN? What is bad about it for us consumers?

The issue is profitability and penetration when it comes to public utilities.

Imagine if you are a company and you want to route cables. Where are you most likely to route them first? Urban areas. Then after that? Maybe some richer but less sparsely populated areas. Then you just kinda say "ehhh screw it" when it comes to farmland. Let them have satellite.

But now the government says that the internet is a public utility and that every man, woman, and child should have it. That poses a huge regulatory risk for a Telcom. Now they have to put in cabling in a zone where they will have to provide service to underserved areas. These people might not even have a computer let alone be able to pay a $50 bill every month.

Well, that cost for making it a public utility must come from somewhere. It either comes from the government (effectively you) paying for it in increased taxes or the Telcom charging you higher rates so they can afford to eat the loss on the underserved customers. Therefore, making something a public utility will increase the net cost of that utility no matter how you slice it.

So an internet connection as a public utility sounds nice, but TINSTAAFL.