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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: willcousa who wrote (11493)	6/19/2001 4:18:16 PM
From: Crossy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Willcousa, JFK said "I'm a Berliner". Any subject in the limelight of political debate is usual also the cause of any harm on earth. No wonder that "corporate welfare" receives way more than the fair share in this case IMHO.. thx for diggin up some facts on other type of (formerly) public conduit. Interesting thing, there IS a success story of a huge network that was built by a private company that sustained its success: Look at Global Crossing, GX. That story is an example of what a company can do on its own. OK, G. Winnick clearly saw the demand that was there and on the Last Mile the demand is not so clear but very segmented which makes any move way harder.. : GX achieved what government bodies of the different PTTs could not do - they created an undersea FO network in a quarter of the time that was usually involved. And that was a private sector story, even more risky it was an LBO story (Leveraged buyout) Willcousa, I also would like to thank you for introducing the "bottom up" approach. You cite the virtues of devolution when you point to the intesrtate highway system before the federal government took over. I think (now this is my value judgement) that the future of the last mile also will arise from a BOTTOM UP approach. Maybe some "aggregation type" of intermediary will be in between (maybe the BLECs will emerge to this role), maybe the electric utilities will be able to put something off here.. I'm not based in the US but I'm pretty familiar with the fact why WV has the highest interestate highway density of any state. Many do not like to point their eyes to this government waste but tend to fix on "corporate welfare" instead. To me this is single-eyed focus but it's way more convenient to blame the "greedy" private sector than the benevolent politico.. What others call greed I call utility. Unlike in a monopoly you have a choice to direct your buying power elsewhere. Consumers have utility too and should use it wisely to further their goals. I prefer to get better value, firms want to maximize profits. That is ok and the way of life. An alternative is central planning but I hope nobody really considers this (anew). A market economy has no "grand plan" behind it but exactly this is its greatest stength - it's a huge collective discovery process and the winners are unknown until the end. rgrds CROSSY