I received a private comment about one of my net neutrality posts from an anonymous admirer saying:
The internet was originally created by the US government; there is nothing communist or socialist about not wanting it handed off to private corporations when citizens footed the bill to have it created in the first place.
Hmmm. While the internet may have evolved from the US defense department, I would submit that it’s growth and popularity arrived when its power was unleashed by private investment – culminating in that thing they called the ‘tech bubble’. The internet, in the hands of government, was nothing like the service that has been built, improved, expanded, morphed and driven by profit-motivated corporations.
My concern with governments getting back into the provision of public communications services is that they may get tired of the planning, the investments, the ongoing management required to keep services state of the art and provide uniform high quality service to all.
Look at the history of government run telecom utilities around the world. For that matter, look at the history of public works projects. They start out as a good idea at the beginning, but the upkeep turns out to be hell. It’s natural – there are other priorities that should come first for tax dollars. The trend is for government to withdraw from the industry, eliminating ownership and heavy regulation, not for it to re-enter the business as an owner.
Government-run telecom went out of fashion when the Berlin Wall came crashing down.