Google Fiber announced
on Tuesday that it will be delivering its high-speed Internet service to four
more American cities - Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh-Durham, NC.
This is fantastic news considering Google Fiber has already entered several
American cities and is currently in discussion with several more. (See here
and here.)
Google Fiber has
helped enforce very strong intermodal competition within America’s dynamic
broadband market. Google’s emergence spurs investment from other ISPs in
regional areas (whether wireline or wireless) in order to prevent Google from
controlling an entire market.
By competing
with other ISPs on prices, investment, and innovation, Google’s entry into the
broadband market is very beneficial for consumers, provided that state and
local governments are not giving any special favors to Google that are not
also available for all other ISPs. Government favors and handouts,
even if in a benevolent attempt to connect residents to the Internet,
ultimately harm consumers because they often restrict competition to only the
ISPs that have been favored. It is most beneficial to consumers if governments “level
the playing field” by deregulating down, allowing for competitive markets,
lower prices, and higher quality service.
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