Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Maltby
True, there are times when a single provider is necessary. It is impractical
to have competing electric lines, water mains, sewer systems, and road
networks - to select from.
|
The electricity and gas markets are completely "open" in the UK. The local company provides the infrastructure, but you can buy your service from any company that you wish. It's been that way for many years now.
Also in the UK, the national telephone company, British Telecom, provides the ADSL broadband infrastructure, but, although they are an ISP themselves (the biggest ISP in the country, in fact), they are also required by law to act as a wholesaler and sell Internet bandwidth to all other ISPs at the same price they sell it to themselves at (ie "BT Wholesale" is legally a separate company from "BT Broadband").
It's very easy to separate the infrastructure provider from the service provider.