Pole dispute points to bigger problem with broadband

The dream of having more competition in the local broadband market seems to be on hold.

But perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. Most folks in this country are lucky to have two broadband competitors, much less a third. And that situation doesn't look like it's going to change much for most people, regardless of how the latest dispute is resolved. That dispute involves Google's efforts to bring Google Fiber, its super-high-speed broadband service, to the Bay Area. As my colleague Ethan Baron reported Friday, Google's efforts have been stymied in many cities by its inability to get permission to string its wires over the local utility poles. The pole owners -- a collection of companies including AT&T, Comcast and PG&E -- aren't recognizing that Google has a right under California Public Utilities Commission rules to get access to the poles.

However it's resolved, the pole dispute points to a much bigger problem. Even when you have a company as wealthy, powerful and determined as Google, it can be damn hard to build out broadband networks to compete with those already offered by the former local telephone and cable monopolies. It wasn't supposed to be this way.