While operators including Charter Communications are focused on the growth potential of the multi-dwelling unit business, Harvard Law professor Susan Crawford wonders if having operators service entire chunks of residences is a good thing for broadband competition.
Noting that tens of millions of Americans live in apartments, Crawford, said, "When it comes to Internet access, people in apartments (called Multiple Dwelling Units, or MDUs) often have the worst of both worlds: all the limitations of a utility framework — no competition, no choices — with zero protections for consumers. That means unconstrained pricing. Network operators like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and AT&T, in cahoots with developers and landlords, routinely use a breathtaking array of kickbacks, lawyerly games of Twister, blunt threats, and downright illegal activities to lock up buildings in exclusive arrangements."
You can read Crawford's full Backchannel article here.