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Summary
I contended in the first article that fiber-optic capacity was like Doritos: “Eat all you want, we’ll make more.” AT&T and others, however, have not gotten that message and instead are trying to reassert their former monopoly, this time on the Internet. Rather than trying to outdo its competitors by investing in more capacity (which is not expensive to do relatively speaking, as I pointed out in Part 1), AT&T is taking advantage of its status as the owner of the existing, outmoded pipes (which are mostly copper plant) that carry their DSL service to squeeze out potential rivals like Netflix and Hulu. This will make it harder and more expensive for its customers to access services online. It's an awful precedent, a deplorable business model, and a practice that the rest of industry will be following in short order, absent government rules and oversight.
We will discuss options like these in the third and final article of this series. In the meantime, Google “Net Neutrality” and learn more. Write your representatives. Enjoy a free and open Internet now, while you still can.