That’s the context: People who really can’t afford it paying a lot for data transmission because they have nowhere else to go. Cable One shareholders are delighted. But Comcast executives are gnashing their teeth. Again, why? Because, says Moffett, “the unspoken fear among their larger peers is that over-reliance on broadband pricing invites regulatory intervention, not just for Cable One, but for everyone.”

See the problem? If people begin noticing that there’s no competition, that Americans are paying too much for too little, and that the entire country is suffering as a result, that’s a big problem for Big Cable.

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The risk to the carriers is that some oversight or uproar will keep them from being able to make this smooth transition from bundled services to higher all-inclusive pricing for data transmission. Real oversight would actually include a hard look at industrial policy supporting reasonably priced fiber data services for everyone, supporting both economic growth and social justice for the country — and the carriers will do anything they can to avoid any step in that direction.