Does the FCC consider local monopolies? Let me explain.
Certainly there is no monopoly in telecommunications like Ma Bell. In some areas, you have a choice like when I switched from Centurylink to Comcast for phone and internet. Where I live now I have exactly one choice - Centurylink. That means that had net neutrality not passed, I would have no choice but to stay with CL even if they decided to change net policies.
So is that something the FCC considers when making decisions about telecommunications? That while globally there are choices, in many areas there are no choices and therefore from the individual’s perspective it is a monopoly?
Mostly “the last mile” of telecommunications is determined by state or local authorities , not the FCC. You may have one cable provider because your local city council decided to allow only one cable company to string its lines in the city.
In Missouri, the old phone company retained its near-monopoly status for decades by telling the state public service commission, in effect, “Our most profitable areas subsidize service in our least profitable areas. If you allow competition in one, we will stop offering service in the other, and you can explain to every farmer more than a mile away from a local exchange why we won’t run a telephone line out there anymore.”
Utility franchises are granted by local governments or utility commissions. Generally the idea is to grant a regulated monopoly so that the utility will be guaranteed a certain amount of revenue in exchange for providing otherwise unprofitable services, like rural telephone lines or public access cable programming. Needless to say, utility companies are not really keen on developing competitive marketplaces.
your local government legislative body members get well educated, on the granting of rights to offer telecommunications within their boundaries, at seminars in the Caribbean. who ever gives the best presentation gets the deal.