Regulations May Be Necessary to Ensure Competitive Broadband

A group of academic and industry representatives agreed Monday that some government regulation will be necessary to ensure a robust and competitive broadband market and continued innovation. The group spoke during a panel discussion sponsored by the Technology Policy Institute. Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld said government policymakers have made a shift in how they think about broadband from merely a service to an entire ec0logy. While past policies focused on the number of lines laid and producer incentives, Feld said that going forward, new policies will focus on how all of these factors act together and affect our economy as whole. But whether the role of government will be to "nudge the participant" into action or "actually building something" itself is still up for debate, he said. "Ten years ago, we thought convergence would create competition at every level," but "whether competition is enough to meet our policy goals" is still unclear, he said.