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0 pointsfc417fc80210mo ago0 comments

Phone service is recognized as a public utility. What difference justifies the failure to label internet service as a public utility?

Most governments operate a postal service. Why then should governments not provide bare bones email and video services? You have government agencies using Zoom and similar. The analogy would be discontinuing the USPS and sending official government post via a wholly unregulated Fedex. It's absurd.

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Workaccount210mo ago

The term is natural monopoly. These are things which cannot have competition for practical reasons.

Zoom and email are not natural monopolies.

fc417fc802OP10mo ago

Neither is Fedex (see UPS, DHL, GSO, Amazon, the list goes on). We've still got USPS. What's your point?

Workaccount210mo ago

USPS (and most government mail services) are to provide communication to every citizen. USPS delivers to every address in the US. So the government can send ballots, send census forms, send tax forms, etc. Sure you can use FedEx to send a parcel to remote Alaskan town, but if you watch the tracking you'll see that they just hand off to USPS in Anchorage.

USPS is not a natural monopoly, it's a government service that no one else wants to do (nor would they).

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Workaccount210mo ago

The term is natural monopoly. These are things which cannot have competition for practical reasons.

Zoom and email are not natural monopolies.

fc417fc802OP10mo ago

Neither is Fedex (see UPS, DHL, GSO, Amazon, the list goes on). We've still got USPS. What's your point?

Workaccount210mo ago

USPS is not a natural monopoly, it's a government service that no one else wants to do (nor would they).

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