“Do you know what you want from internet services?”
I bristle at the question. I’m not some entitled kid who grew up with a wireless network in my home. I’m an old schooler who started with a 2400 baud modem, and used gopher and archie before Mosaic came around.
I know exactly what I want. I’m a cheap son of a gun who wants the most I can get for the least amount out of my pocket. But my post wasn’t about me. It’s about what people have versus what they’re likely to get. Just as you can’t take Obamacare from people once you give it to them, (it’s still in place, isn’t it?), changing the rules for ISPs is dangerous.
This is the plugged in generation. People are constantly online in one way or another. If you’re telling me that giving freedom to Charter, Comcast and AT&T is going to lead to happiness across the land, we are not seeing the same thing.
Messing with the price, structure, and availability of internet access for people is going to cause FUD at first, and ultimately will cost at the ballot box.
As for me, meh, I’ll figure it out. As for the GOP, it could get bloody.
Based on the comments, I think people are going to have to learn this the hard way.
My first dial-up was a 103 with rubber cups for the handset. The terminal was a used Heathkit H-9 (uppercase only, 40 char lines, 12 lines). I added a lowercase character generator, a pair of 2114 static RAM chips and a couple hours of wire-wrap effort to graduate to 80 character lines, 24 lines on the screen with upper and lower case). 1980 stuff. I did't have TCP/IP until 1985 when Phil Karn's "Net" code afforded a SLIP link and a friend at UCSD created an account for me to their ARPAnet. Simpson was working on PPP development with us at the time, but it wasn't ready for release yet.
I used gopher and archie too. Mostly to find developmental network software as I was actively writing new network protocol code from 1983 to 1987. After that, I just used the stuff in place. It was good enough.
Like most people today, I carry a fully outfitted smart phone (Samsung Galaxy S7). WiMax connectivity to my house provides 15 Mbps down / 7 Mbps up. I don't have to fix the protocol stacks in my home grown TCP/IP software anymore. Private business has poured a ton of money into building out the loosely knit "internet". It is a travesty to think the government could seize control via "net neutrality" and regulate how those businesses use their capital investment with their customers. I'm thrilled to see it go away. A local company is pulling 1 Gbps (symmetrical) fiber to the premises at a flat rate $49/month with no usage caps. The neighborhoods nearby have been provisioned. Mine will likely have to wait for Winter to pass before more fiber gets pulled.