METROCAST BLOCKS RESIDENTIAL E-MAIL

[Paul Lussier]

"Ben Scott" <dragonhawk at gmail.com> writes:

>   Of course, cable companies *are not* a free market, since they've
> been granted a monopoly by the local government in the local area.

That's not exactly true, at least not in most cases.  Most
municipalities grant cable companies a NON-EXCLUSIVE 10 year contract
to provide cable services to the town or city.

What this means in practice, is that in the smaller towns you
typically have one cable company (Comcast, Adelphia, etc.) who is the
exclusive provider by default of competition.  In other words, these
small towns are a winner-takes-all situation because any competition
which could legally enter into that town doesn't think they can get
enough takers to make it worth their while.

If you look at the municipalities where there are multiple providers
(like Boston area towns with both Comcast and RCN) you'll find that
not only are the rates lower, but that there are enough people likely
to switch to justify a company like RCN coming in well after the
initial company is entrenched.

In most cases, if you actually read the town's contract with the cable
provider for that town, you'll find it's a non-exclusive contract.
The reason no one else has shown up to the party is because there's
not enough cake to go around :)
-- 

Seeya,
Paul