It’s time to make broadband priority

[Commentary] The Internet is the greatest free-market innovation in history. And if we want it to thrive, our government needs to refocus its efforts on what really benefits consumers — namely, more broadband investment, deployment and competition.

• We need policies that will make it easier to deploy high-speed broadband. The building blocks of an Internet network (things like laying optical fiber in the ground) are high-cost projects, often requiring extensive planning and years of waiting for government approval. Long waits can deter some companies from acting at all, especially in less populous states. We need to streamline the permitting process.
• Next, the federal government needs to modernize its rules to unleash high-tech connectivity. One example is the Universal Service Fund, an $8.7 billion fund that is supposed to support companies that promise to deploy broadband in rural America. But the current program is still rooted in the telephone era, and gives companies funding for broadband based only on the telephone lines they serve. This effectively penalizes any rural company that offers customers broadband as a stand-alone service. We need to fix the Universal Service Fund and give rural consumers the same options for broadband as every other American.
• Finally, we need policies to encourage private investment. After all, broadband providers invested $75 billion in their networks last year, nearly $66 billion more than the federal government. That means we need a framework that reduces regulatory uncertainty so that private companies can invest with confidence.