I just ran across a nice article promoting open networks in Telephony Online (What’s wrong with one damn-good open network?).

The author quotes former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt:

His thought is to stop “nickel and diming” local telephone companies and fund broadband construction, with one important caveat: The network has to be open. “Going back to universal service, instead of seeing us reduce the amount of money we give to phone companies in Montana, I’d rather see us provide really high-speed access, even if it was just one company, provided they were open,” Hundt said. “Open,” by his definition, doesn’t mean giving away service – it does allow for the service provider to charge a reasonable fee per bit, but not to discriminate in its sales.

It’s an interesting check and balance on the Connect Kentucky model that has been so popular these days.