Do any of you not realize that regulating services as utilities literally does nothing but stifle innovation, drive out any competition, and lead to stagnant prices, right?
Look at what happened with brown townog telephone service in the United States when it became a utility. Prior to the deregulation of the telephone service industry, prices were high and service was pretty garbage.
Anyone that honestly believes giving government a monopoly on broadband service by redefining it as a public utility is somehow better for consumers is bullstuffting.
If you actually look into things instead of just parroting bullstuff you read on Reddit, the cost of entry-level broadband internet in the United States is far lower than that in Western Europe, and 85% of US households have the ability to have 100mbps broadband service compared to ~50% Of European homes being able to access internet speeds >=30 mbps.
The US also has 2x as many homes with access to fiber optic internet as the EU does.
Great quote from the article: "European Commission VP Neelie Kroes has announced a Digital Single Market initiative to “burn the red tape,” increase investment and move towards the facilities-based model of the U.S."
The author also has a PhD in internet economics and lives in Copenhagen, so I'd say he knows what he's talking about.
I'd love to hear a refutation explaining predatory internet practices that are extant in and exclusive to the US and how giving government control over broadband service as a utility would stop said predatory practices and offer greater benefit to consumers as opposed to strengthening antitrust legislation and allowing continued competition and investment from the free market.