Re: Overbuild BS
"forcing providers to ensure they are providing a good quality service at a competitive price."
So a race to the bottom, then.
"Once they cannot take the piss by charging sky-high prices (anyone seen FTTPOD prices recently?), "
OR have seen the light one that one - the post-February pricing structure seems reasonable given that it is a bespoke engineering effort, and this time it actually tries to account your neighbours piggybacking off of your investment. Openreach's normal FTTC and FTTP pricing isn't that bad.
The grass isn't always greener - IIRC, those in state-funded altnet areas have to cough up the full for the final run into their premises (or DIY it). No fixed price installs such as those in areas with Openreach FTTP.
"Overbuild is exactly what is supposed to happen, and it is a good thing."
It's a classic natural monopoly and it isn't necessarily a good thing. Consumer broadband is a low margin game. What we have today works because ISPs can rent infrastructure at a low cost per user with corresponding low risk.
Overbuilding introduces a very high cost of entry, poor returns. Numerous altnet companies have been put out of business as soon as Openreach / BT up their game. Most notable recent casualty is Digital Region, who built an FTTC network in parts of Yorkshire - council funded thing. No notable ISPs used the network, prices were higher than their Openreach counterparts. Openreach ended up extending their FTTC network to those locations after the company folded.
The mobile networks went down this path - the end result is poor, patchy coverage. It's now improving as Vodafone/O2 and 3/EE have pooled resources (and of course Orange and T-Mobile merged completely!)
We don't have multiple electricity, water or gas networks for the same reason.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
