Archive for March 28th, 2011
Internet Players v. Communications Carriers
Mammoth firms like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Sun, IBM, etc. are not those threatening the future of the Internet.
Over the past decade, those firms have fueled growth and spurred innovation. In fortcoming years, they will likely continue to bring vibrant competition on Internet markets.
In his latest piece on the future of the Internet, Farhad Manjoo (Slate) incriminates another group of market players, the big American telcos:
This future [the future of the Internet] depends on fast and ubiquitous broadband, which, in the oligopolistic American telecom market, isn’t guaranteed to happen soon. Over the next few years, major American mobile carriers will adopt faster “4G” wireless Internet systems—but will they be fast, cheap, and reliable enough to spur the sort of innovation I’m describing? I don’t know. Honestly, I’m pessimistic.
And a question: with their increased, some would say obsessive, focus against Google, Microsoft, IBM, etc. are Western antitrust enforcers shooting the right target(s)?
Chillin'Competition 