Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Maltby
Remember "Ma Bell", the telephone utility?
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Yes, I do, and I am sorry that Ma Bell was broken up. Until FiOS became available, Verizon had for years terrible service and quality in my area. (I have to give Verizon credit -- I've had FiOS service for several years now and it is nearly never out of service.)
Some monopolies are good, some bad. Cable TV is an example of a de facto monopoly that is bad (and FiOS competition has done nothing to lower prices; in fact, pricing continues to climb and a la carte viewing still isn't a reality).
The deregulating of my local gas and electric utility did nothing to lower pricing. The most expensive part of the service, the delivery, is not subject to competition, so the few cents lower cost for the gas and electric is lost in the many cents rise in delivery charges.