Competition is good not that competition will cause prices to decrease, but it will provide choice. And choice will make each company that s a player in this market be very high on customer service levels and what they re offering in order to distinguish themselves within this market. I think any city would want competition to come to their city just to provide choice to their residents. However, there is the disruption associated with your streets being cut. Given that, that may be a discouragement unless you have some sort of infrastructure already in place that will minimize the amount of construction.
Parks says there are problems with disrupted traffic, parking and noise every time a street is cut.
On top of that, every trench shortens the life of the road. The solution, says Parks, is for service providers to work with the cities to minimize future construction. It s something that could benefit both the provider and the city. I think they really should come in and meet with city officials with a quick assessment of what they feel the city needs by way of infrastructure management, says Parks. As they re trenching and digging up things, they should agree to provide capacity or help the city in the future put in conduit or duct work.