Public roads, private roads

Submitted by acohill on Fri, 08/19/2005 - 08:39

Imagine if there were no public roads. We would have to pay a private company to drive to and from work, probably in the form of tolls and/or a monthly fee. We might not be able to get certain kinds of goods and services delivered to our homes and businesses because the toll fees made uneconomical for a company to provide delivery services in some areas. In many rural areas, there would be no paved roads, only dirt lanes, as no private road company could make enough money to cover the cost of paving.

What's worse, some essential public services would be limited or unavailable. Residents in rural areas would be without public safety or fire protection whenever the dirt lanes were blocked by snow or muddy from spring rains--no private company could afford to plow the snow or put gravel down.

With the recent FCC decisions that give the cable and telephone companies complete control over their own systems, that's what we have--private digital roads.

What the FCC has missed completely is that there is a deeper issue involved. In principle, I agree with the approach the FCC has taken with these private companies--they should not have to share their own systems with competitors. It's like telling UPS they have to let FedEx use UPS trucks.

As I said, I agree in principle. In practice, what the FCC has missed is that affordable broadband goes beyond just being a nice private sector service to have. It's essential public infrastructure, and so the question becomes, "What is the FCC doing to ensure that communities can build and manage their own infrastructure, and do so in a way that actually supports and promote private sector investments?"

Right now, I'd have to say, "Nothing."