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The FCC has a map app.[1] Go and plug in some random addresses.

The link below is for a NJ suburb , and lists 6 ISP competitors. But three of them are just satellite services and two are Verizon. In practice, there are exactly two competitors here: the phone monopoly and the cable monopoly, but the FCC would point to this to say that there's robust competition!

Here's another one I just picked at random, in a suburb of Oklahoma City.[2] The FCC lists 9 different providers. 3 of them are Satellite, 2 are Cox Cable, and 4 are AT&T. Again, there are exactly two competitors here: the phone monopoly and the cable monopoly. Look around yourself.

Two long-term competitors are not enough for meaningful competition. Duopoly competition has the same strategic profile as the Prisoner's Dilemma. When you have the same two players in the game over a long period of time, they learn to cooperate. See Axelrod (1980) etc...

Regulatory capture, juking the stats, crooks and liars all.

[1]: https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/#/location-summary?version=dec2...

[2]: https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/#/location-summary?version=dec2...



I just check my block, and it's claiming 5 providers. Realistically, we have Spectrum, and that's really it.

It even claims we have AT&T fiber! Nearby neighborhoods do have it (along with google fiber) but not this one.


Everything I quoted was 2+ providers. I never claimed 5+ was common.

"Two long-term competitors are not enough for meaningful competition."

That is a legitimate argument.




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