Would you consider Wi-Fi a private good, a natural monopoly, a public good, or a common resource?

Question

Full Question: Would you consider wireless internet a private good, a natural monopoly, a public good, or a common good?

Need help for Econ Class

I find it to be a private good because
1. It's excludable you can prevent anyone from using it especially those that have not paid for it
2.Rival in consumption because one person's consumption of a product reduces the amount left for others to consume and benefit from. Once you have it you are the only person benefiting from it
-The free rider problem still exist

Any thoughts or comments? What do you think?

Answer 1

I would go for a private good for reasons. To provide the WiFi internet, it needs waves. The waves belong to the country. The government will give the concession to use the waves against the fees.It has to assure the competition by providing the waves to 3-4 investors in the market. The competition will drive the price down to marginal cost. The market is usually oligopoly,not monopoly. And it will never be a natural monopoly. Consumers has to buy the good at the market price as usual. It functions the same like cable TV.

Answer 2

It would be a private good if it is a network with adequate security that makes it excludable, but the capacity of the network cannot handle large volumes of traffic, such that the performance of the network would easily degrade when there are more users.



I'm not sure if you actually meant to say club goods for the second option. A natural monopoly would be a monopoly because the cost-structure of the industry, typically due to high fixed costs that imply low average costs at high output levels. WiFi does not even fit the profile of a monopoly, so it wouldn't be a natural monopoly.



It would be a public good if the network is open to everyone in the area, but is also able to handle large volumes of traffic without slowing down. Open networks are common in places like Starbucks and McDonalds, but I'm pretty sure that these WiFi networks easily degrade in connection quality when the place is packed.



WiFi would be a private goods in residential networks, commercial networks, etc., and it would be a common good in places like franchise restaurants that provide an open network to attract more customers.

Answer 3

Ans :1 . Wi-Fi is a private good . Price is charged , use is restricted and supplied by individual ( monopoly).