#CommActUpdate: Congress Should Focus on Competition, Consumer Choice

The House Commerce Committee requested communications industry stakeholders to weigh in on the legislative effort to modernize the legal and regulatory framework governing the country’s communications sector. Verizon submitted comments.

The dizzying array of choices that consumers now have to communicate -- and the wide range of players competing to meet consumers’ communications needs -- bears scant resemblance to the voice-centric world of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Given the fundamental changes in the communications sector, Congress shouldn’t just tweak the current statute, but instead start from scratch and create a policy and regulatory framework that fits the 21st Century broadband world. As Congress considers a framework for the 21st Century broadband world, Verizon suggests that it remain focused on a few long-standing goals that will remain relevant regardless of where the marketplace evolves next: protecting consumers, promoting competition, and encouraging investment and innovation. Furthering these goals requires a change of course from the old ways of regulating. In place of today’s outdated framework, Congress should embrace an approach based on consumer choice, competition and effective multi-stakeholder processes to address emerging issues or market failures. Finally, it’s important for Congress to consider a review of policies in other areas -- such as public safety, accessibility and spectrum management -- that will continue to be important even as technology and the ways people communicate continue to evolve.

[Peter Davidson is Senior Vice President of Federal Government Relations at Verizon]