Telecom Time Warp

TELECOM TIME WARP
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Robert Crandall and Hal Singer]
[Commentary] Calls for non-discrimination rules in telecom arise periodically from disadvantaged groups of rivals. In the late 1960s, the call for regulation came from equipment providers; in the early 1980s, it came from long-distance providers. In the mid-1990s, it was local exchange carriers and Internet service providers. Today Internet telephone, or "VoIP," providers want help, but to obfuscate their role, they couch it in a deceptive, overused phrase: "network neutrality." Unfortunately, some lawmakers and regulators are seriously entertaining these pleas for greater regulation. The FCC is considering service rules for the upcoming 700 MHz-auction sponsored by Frontline, a firm headed by former FCC chairman Reed Hundt, which would impose, among other onerous requirements, a net neutrality requirement on the winning bidder. And today Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, will hold a hearing on the subject of "wireless net neutrality." The lesson for future content providers -- particularly those now seeking network neutrality regulation -- is that they should develop content that network owners will perceive as being complementary to their offerings and therefore will add value for their broadband customers. Ignoring this advice will work only as long as the regulators are under the content providers' thumb. Eventually, either the FCC or the courts will realize that regulating competitive networks for the benefit of select content providers is not in the interest of American consumers.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118411797700062862.html?mod=todays_us_op...
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