Editing Monopoly (section)

=== Utilities ===
A [[public utility]] (or simply "utility") is an organization or company that maintains the [[infrastructure]] for a [[public services|public service]] or provides a set of services for public consumption. Common examples of utilities are [[Electric utility|electricity]], [[Natural gas utility|natural gas]], [[Water utility|water]], [[Water industry|sewage]], [[cable television]], and [[telephone]]. In the United States, public utilities are often [[natural monopoly|natural monopolies]] because the infrastructure required to produce and deliver a product such as electricity or water is very expensive to build and maintain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/public-utility |title=West's Encyclopedia of American Law |publisher=Answers.com |date=2009-06-28 |access-date=2011-10-11}}</ref>

[[Western Union]] was criticized as a "[[price gouging]]" monopoly in the late 19th century.<ref>{{citation | url = https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/12/how-the-robber-barons-hijacked-the-victorian-internet.ars/2 | publisher = Ars technica | title = How Robber Barons hijacked the "Victorian Internet": Ars revisits those wild and crazy days when Jay Gould ruled the telegraph and ... | first = Matthew | last = Lasar | date = May 13, 2011}}</ref> [[AT&T Corporation|American Telephone & Telegraph]] was a telecommunications giant. AT&T was broken up in 1984. In the case of [[Telecom New Zealand]], [[local loop unbundling]] was enforced by central government.

[[Telkom (South Africa)|Telkom]] is a semi-privatised, part state-owned [[South Africa]]n telecommunications company. [[Deutsche Telekom]] is a former state monopoly, still partially state owned. Deutsche Telekom currently monopolizes high-speed VDSL broadband network.<ref name=IHT110908>Kevin J. O'Brien, [http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/09/technology/telecoms10.php IHT.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081126073943/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/09/technology/telecoms10.php |date=26 November 2008 }}, Regulators in Europe fight for independence, ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'', November 9, 2008, Accessed November 14, 2008.</ref> The [[Long Island Power Authority]] (LIPA) provided electric service to over 1.1&nbsp;million customers in [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau]] and [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk]] counties of [[New York (state)|New York]], and the [[Rockaway, Queens|Rockaway Peninsula]] in [[Queens]].

The [[Comcast]] Corporation is the largest [[mass media]] and [[communications]] company in the world by revenue.<ref name="mediadb.eu">[http://www.mediadb.eu/en/data-base/international-media-corporations/comcastnbcuniversal-llc.html IfM – Comcast/NBCUniversal, LLC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180608214927/http://www.mediadb.eu/en/data-base/international-media-corporations/comcastnbcuniversal-llc.html |date=8 June 2018 }}. Mediadb.eu (2013-11-15). Retrieved on 2013-12-09.</ref> It is the largest [[cable television|cable]] company and home [[Internet service provider]] in the United States, and the nation's third largest home [[telephone service provider]]. Comcast has a monopoly in [[Boston]], [[Philadelphia]], and many small towns across the US.<ref name="islr.org">[https://ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020_08_Profiles-of-Monopoly.pdf Profiles of Monopoly: Big Cable and Telecom] ilsr.org (2020-08). Retrieved on 2024-05-30.</ref>