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what prevents the subdivisions from pulling their own pre wire? and striking out on their own as a co-op
agreed - internet access ceased to be a luxury good (s?) a few years ago.....about the time Prince declared it dead -grin
Posts: 14,145
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Joined: Aug 2012
quote:
what prevents the subdivisions from pulling their own pre wire? and striking out on their own as a co-op
In theory: nothing.
In practice: the subdivisions can't even agree on road maintenance.
In reality: while the right-of-way issue is greatly simplified by the fact that the roadway is a contiguous lot held-in-commons, the poles installed therein are property of HELCO and/or Telcom.
Politics: if "we the people" threaten the cable monopoly, they will simply lobby for new legislation that hinders/prevents municipal/coop network deployment -- this has already happened in several states.
Irony: incumbent cable operators enjoy a government-granted monopoly -- even if they have no plans to ever deploy service. Yes: their monopoly includes
never providing service, really should be "use it or lose it".