Give 'em a block, and they'll take an entire suburb

One of the supposed benefits of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which (among other things) drastically limited the rights of local governments to regulate cable, was that increased competition among cable, phone, and satellite companies would make up for regulation that set things like minimum service and pricing guidelines. Like most deregulation schemes, however, the reality has not come close to the promise:

Verizon Communications Inc. yesterday added four more overwhelmingly white, mostly well-off Boston suburbs to the Massachusetts communities where it is deploying an advanced fiber-optic network that can deliver cable television.
The demographics of areas Verizon is targeting are raising some questions about what US Representative Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat, has denounced as "broadband redlining" by telecommunications giants cherry-picking affluent areas for advanced service offers.

As far as I know, this is not an immediate problem in the Bay Area, but it is an important reminder that left to themselves, the communications companies will choose the most affluent areas to provide service to.

As we go into the renegotiation of our cable franchise we need to be vigilant about ensuring that all our residents have access to the latest services, not just the people in the richer areas.