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The original Telecommunications Act had a goal - to address the existing monopoly of Bell and ensure that a fair service was provided to all. The revised Act had a goal - to address the new providers before they became monopolies by creating a landscape that would encourage competition amongst the new providers and ensure a fair service was provided to all.

The original act worked because it accepted the realities of the situation - there was a monopoly - and realised that without intervention there was a danger that this would lead to people paying more than they should and having less choice.

The amended act aimed to avoid the situation that the original act had been created to address. In other words, it aimed to prevent the monopolies forming as had happened with Bell. To that end, it was decided that less regulation would allow new providers to enter the market and provide services and thus encourage competition, thereby increasing choice and driving down costs.

The goal was a good one but the plan just didn't work. If it had, we simply would not be here.

The situation now is therefore similar to the one that prompted the creation of the Act in the first place: there are monopolies in place and there is a real danger that, without intervention, people will end up paying more than they should and have less choice.

So, there are three questions:

1. Is it desirable to have affordable services for all?

2. If so, is the current situation conducive to this?

3. If not, what changes are required to address this gap?

One of the big problems is that addressing such a gap is difficult. It requires work and strength and, at least as it stands now with the near complete integration of corporate lobbyists (and their money) with Congress, the willingness of politicians to put the interests of the people above their own.

On the surface, this would seem to be the very job they were elected to do, as - how naive - servants of the people. Unfortunately, in reality, little could be further from the truth.