FCC Should Abandon Third Way And Support Congressional Reform

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission should abandon its push for a "third way" on telecom regulation and instead get behind the push for a Congressional update of the Communications Act.

It is a mistake for the FCC to try and blaze its own trail on these issues. I say that for multiple reasons. The first is simple: what good is a "third way" if whatever the FCC comes up with as a compromise is overruled or made irrelevant by Congressional action? That could easily happen in big and small ways, meaning that all the work the FCC puts into this may be for naught.

The second is a related thought: the FCC should wait until it has its new Congressional authority before trying to re-regulate broadband. At this point we have no idea what the FCC's new powers will be, so it seems unwise to embark on such a fundamental reexamining of how we regulate broadband with this much uncertainty.

The third is to acknowledge the basic reality that Congress is higher on the totem pole than the FCC. There's really nothing the FCC can do that can't be taken away by Congressional action, so it seems like it makes sense to try and work with Congress rather than against them. Which brings me to my main point. The most fundamental truth of these debates about re-regulating broadband is that whatever is decided and however these decisions are made, it's going to be a contentious process. There are no such things as making easy, no-nonsense tweaks to broadband regulation. Instead, what's going to happen is that there will be a massive PR and lobbying fight pitting those who wish to maintain the status quo vs. those who want to see revolutionary changes.