[phoenix0468]

"Businesses that seek to profit on the use of next-generation networks should not be free of all costs associated with the increased capacity that is required for delivery of the advanced services and applications they seek to market," he said.

Aren't R&D costs built into the fees that the providers charge? What, now they want to try and tell us that this cost isn't being added into their charges? Do they believe their consumers are that stupid? This is what happens when there is too much governmental interference in business. The companies start to think they can use the government to further their own greedy designs.

[SAJ]

The technical term here is ''rent-seeking''. Now that SBC, which once was owned by AT&T, owns AT&T and has renamed itself as AT&T (what happened to the 'telegraph' part of that? I wonder...), and now that their ancient business model is collapsing around their ears, do they try to compete using a different model?

Nope. They try, as they've done in our state for decades, to buy off the pols in order to game the system.

Government should preserve their 'franchise' at all costs, and damn the results. Gutless and lazy rent-seekers, no more, no less.

[Sofa King]

"The companies start to think they can use the government to further their own greedy designs."

This is what socialists don't understand: letting the government set the rules for businesses basically has the effect of making the final entity produced far more powerful than a private company every could have been alone. Keep them separate and the worst they can ever do to you is deny you their services. Let them join forces and they can take your land away from you and build a casino on it.

[cinives]

My point precisely. This is so transparent I can't believe Congresscritters think we are all so dumb as to fall for these arguments.