Jim Stewart is blogging again and has published the first of three articles he plans on fiber to the home called "Embracing Change." His conclusions from the first article:
- Fiber to the home is the future.
- Wireless has a place in the home.
- A new generation of consumers is coming and they will not settle for narrowband access.
- New opportunities abound and will generate new profits.
- The old model will not work and will only frustrate both the consumers and the service providers.
- There will likely only be enough capital to build one fiber infrastructure. It should not be left to one company to do this. However, all companies should be allowed to benefit.
- Competition should be differentiated on services, not infrastructure.
Pay specific attention to the last point. "Facilities-based" carriers like Comcast and Qwest are doing just that. In fact, its the only basis on which they want to compete. When a telecom provider says "facilities-based" just translate it into "monopoly." That's what they're really saying.
