Even with convincing evidence that deregulation has failed to deliver promised benefits, efforts to restore public oversight face tough resistance. The reasons involve policy inertia—and blind faith in free markets.

Perspective

Barriers to Entry:

 

PLT could allow energy companies to provide Internet, voice, and data via the grid, but technological hurdles and fierce competition remain obstacles.

 

Wait for the "second wave," when new products help suppliers escape the trench warfare of pricing.

Telecoms may offer IOUs a model for multiplying market caps by dividing their shareholdings.

April 1, 2000

They see leasing and dark fiber as "no-risk" ventures, with more upside potential.

Few seem ready to predict when demand might wane for rights-of-way for long-haul telecommunications. The consensus suggests a long-lived market - with interstate natural gas pipelines primed to take advantage. The question seems not so much whether to dive in, but how deeply to get involved.

Should pipelines stick to leasing rights-of-way to carriers? Or should they lay fiber and perhaps offer their own long-haul services?