It’s been one year since net neutrality was repealed. Net neutrality supporters bought into protectionist fear mongering that corporations will throttle internet speeds unless you pay more.
Net neutrality claims that allowing ISPs, internet service providers, free reign of how they control their prices would exclude the poor from having equal access to the internet. Supporters also claim ISPs would limit freedom of speech and that we would have to pay to access popular sites.
The repeal of net neutrality did not bring the end of the free internet. Where are the fear mongers now? Nothing changed and you’re still enjoying Netflix and Facebook without paying higher prices.
“But providers will eventually start price gouging.” If they’re as greedy as you say then wouldn’t providers immediately charge more after the repeal? They wouldn’t delay an opportunity for profit, would they?
The internet has been around for about thirty years so that means providers had many chances to gouge prices but they didn’t. Why haven’t they? Competition.
ISPs are like any other business, they engage in competitive prices and come up with better services in order to gain profit. Competition allows more choices for the consumer, and we benefit from it by paying cheaper prices when more competitors enter the market.
This means when one business lowers their prices, others will follow suit (if they’re wise and listening to the market) in order to retain their customers and gain new ones.
When you limit competition, prices start to rise due to the lack of competitors. It all boils down to the law of supply and demand. When supply decreases and demand increases then prices will rise. Price increases happen when people place more value on things that are becoming or already is, scarce. It’s a law of nature that can’t be changed like the laws of gravity.
The problem isn’t with the providers but with government regulating competition which protects corporations, eventually leading to the creation of monopolies and artificially higher prices. Businesses who don’t want to compete and or wish to kill their competition, lobby the government and create a fear-mongering narrative.
The solution here is to abolish the FCC and state-sponsored monopolies. Let businesses and individuals choose freely.