It’s time to regulate internet service like any other utility

Less competition almost always means diminished service and higher prices. Telecom companies, seeing how the wind is blowing, are responding to the rise in streaming services by jacking up prices for broadband internet access. I get that pay-TV companies are sticking it to customers in part because their programming costs keep soaring. I also see how, from a purely business standpoint, if one part of your business is growing and another is declining, you increasingly rely on the growing part for profit. When it comes to internet access, though, we’re not talking about a luxury, such as subscribing to HBO. We’re talking about a necessity.  About 80% of US households now have access to broadband internet. Cable companies account for nearly two-thirds of service. I’ve long believed that broadband should be regulated like a utility. It’s no less vital to most households than water and power. “Broadband is a necessity to every consumer and especially important in households with children,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League. “Broadband is today what electricity was several generations ago,” she said. “Without it, consumers simply cannot function in the 21st century.” Service providers should have to justify rate increases just like other utilities. If higher prices are warranted by legitimate operating costs, so be it. If not, go pound sand. “The dominant players in the broadband market — giant telco and cable companies — shouldn’t act as gatekeepers to an internet that they didn’t build,” said Emily Rusch, executive director of the California Public Interest Research Group.