Broadband IS a utility. End.

Tweet

You cannot look at broadband in any other way in 2009 except as a utility. It is of equal importance in modern life as electricity, gas, water. So, it should continue to surprise us that....

none of the same rules seem to apply to it as apply to the other utility suppliers and consumers.

If 40% of UK businesses had no access to electricity, this country would a) be phuqued in competing in the global economy and b) there would be a massive attempt to solve the problem.

If an utility company eg an electricity company failed to upgrade their infrastructure, or chose not to for economic reasons/shareholders, so that the residents of one village could plug in DVD player, washing machine, TV, kettle, toaster, etc etc (all the trappings of daily life) whilst those in the next village/town could only use their kettle or toaster or TV at any one time, and yet were charged exactly the same as those in the neighbouring village/town, there would be a huge public uproar at the situation.

If a utility company, let's say water, said you could have unlimited water for the money, as long as you never filled more than one bath a week, reduced your supply to a dribble at times when other people were having baths, and charged ludicrous amounts of money for managing a tending-to-free resource, there would be a furore and outcry at the use of the term 'unlimited', restricting water when it is an abundant resource (especially since St Swithins!), false advertising, mismanagement of a free resource, overcharging etc.

This is what we seem to be allowing the telcos to do in this country.

If the regulator of any of the utility companies appeared to be protecting the suppliers and industry and not standing by its remit under a Parlimantary Act to protect the consumers and citizens of this nation, it would be front page news and every consumer in this country would be complaining widely until action was taken.

Either Ofcom are deliberately pandering to the suppliers in much of their actions, (that is a deeply worrying thought) or they are bloody incompetent in carrying out their statutory duty.

So much misleading information is fed out to the media, government and public by those with a (seeming) vested interest in misleading those very same groups that getting to the truth is eminently difficult. But not impossible and many, many right-minded people are seeing through the lies, lies and damned statistics to lead us on the right path.

Long may we enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and joined up thinking.