The United States has the most advanced market economy. This means that the US allows companies to set prices, but at the same time, anti-trust laws are there to protect. When we consume things, we have to pay for it. And that is one of the biggest strengths of our country. Even our water and our electricity are paid by us, so we consume these things wisely. With that being said, have we ever thought that how it will be possible to provide free nationwide internet?
In order to get fast and secured internet for free, the government needs massive infrastructure, investments, and a large operation team to support and maintain it. The government has a lot of other responsibilities and operations to run, such as free education programs, healthcare, helping poor people, food services, transportation – you name it, where the government needs focus, investments, and improvements. If the government will have to take on such a large operation of free nationwide internet, it may derail what is already established and take down other priorities.
The government already has a program using the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which provides low-cost internet. Also, many telecom service providers provide internet with small costs that can go as low as $9.99 per month. In the US, multiple telecom companies, such as Xfinity, CenturyLink, AT&T, and Verizon, are competing to provide better services at lower costs. If governments have to consolidate all of these infrastructures and bring the cost down to provide no-cost internet, it will bring significant increases to taxes, which will ultimately impact the degradation of internet service and harm the businesses which are running on paid services.
If internet goes free and we have a fixed bandwidth for the nation, all of a sudden, unnecessary usage will increase, which will take away bandwidth from education or businesses, which will result in an overall degradation. For example, in my household, if I ask the question that who is the biggest consumer of internet, is it my IT professional parents, or me and my sister, who do a lot of online educational activities? The answer came out is that it is actually my Grandma, who watches online television all day long. Often times, when we need bandwidth for important activities, we kindly request her to pause the online television. The point is that to cope up with this additional bandwidth requirement, the government not only has to reduce the cost but at the same time increase the infrastructure significantly.
The internet quality is more important than it being free. Although there are people that may not be able to afford internet, it is provided for free in many public spaces such as restaurants or libraries. The government has more urgent problems to solve and cannot take on such a large operation that is not a priority. The biggest takeaway today is that the internet should be fair and strong, but not free, to everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment