Telcos over the pond get their myths busted

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In the ongoing battle for Net neutrality, and with opportunities to comment on the FCC plans to blow Obama's broadband dosh finally closed this week, it appears that the arguments which are often used here to compound the dire state of UK broadband are as common in the US.

Hardly surprising, as everything American, good and bad, seems to end up on these shores, but the responses being made by FreePress to the telco arguments bear applying to the #digitalbritain discussions.

Read the FreePress myth-busting here.

Consider the first myth. Of course, we have never, ever heard BT et al try this one on Ofcom, have we?!

Myth 2 - what FP omitted to point out is the impoverished nature now of customer service, the reduced speeds to many on long lines and in rural areas, the failure to maintain the network in many areas, and every other consumer complaint we have all heard about broadband in the UK. And what is actually relevant here but not so much in the US when responding to this argument is that the majority of choice is actually just A.N.Other ISP flogging BT's service.

The last para of course hits it right on the head. It's all about profit. Yet broadband is such an essential service that to even let the corporate world have a say in it, let alone manipulate the entire situation to its own ends (read profits) seems more than just absurd. It is profoundly short-sighted.