>> So, if a telecom provider wants to bundle services, why shouldn't it?
> Because the market for residential communications services cannot
> support what economists call "effective competition". The barriers to
> entry in "local loop" services are so high that allowing bundling
> stifles competition on the services built on top.
> What should have been done back in 1984, and wasn't, is the unbundling
> of outside plant from telephone service (with both by preference
> provided by separate companies). By the late 1990s, most states
> understood this, and implemented a similar model for energy
> deregulation: you buy your energy from a competitive supplier, who
> then must contract with a regulated distribution company to deliver it > to you.
Here in Rhode Island they broke the electrical distribution network from the generating plants.
Have our bills gone down, even discounting increased fuel costs? No.