The breakup (divestiture) of AT&T and the regional operating companies in 1984 was a result of the FCC and DOJ 'making things better for the consumer' and 'promoting competition' It never really lowered any prices that would not have come down anyway. But it did create a couple of monopolies that ended up cheating tons of people out of their money in investments. Even Judge Green who was in charge of the legal breakup stated shortly before it was completed that they had made a mistake and it shouldn't happen, but it was too far along to stop it. In the long run it did allow competition and possibly moved innovation along a little faster, but it sure didn't help the small end POTS consumer out in the rural areas. And neither will Net Neutrality help the regular Internet subscriber out in the rural areas.cb1000rider wrote:I think we should perhaps not rely on AT&Ts nature in regard to doing what is best for it's customers.... Seems like half of the FCC regulations we have are due to some really anti-consumer behavior that they engaged in at one time or another.jmra wrote:Neighbor is a manager of some type with AT&T. He has been very vocal about the negative repercussions this would have on end users. I hope his "better get used to dial up speeds" is just a rant.
I will just ask, when was the last time the government stuck their nose into the middle of anything and 'made it better'?