The Next Act

[Commentary] How is the United States doing in international rankings and should Congress rewrite the current communications law? The interplay between these debates raises two questions; one ironic and the other, serious.

The international debate features one side suggesting we are falling behind while the other side, composed of telephone and cable companies and supportive policy experts, argues we’re doing great. Advocates for the second view are also leading the charge for new legislation. The ironic question is if we are doing so badly, why change? I’m not accusing them of hypocrisy; we could be doing great and still need a new bill. But it does beg the more serious question: what is the problem the legislation is meant to resolve? The general answer is we should modernize the law. While not a bad outcome, it is hardly compelling, particularly as a legislative process tends to freeze investment in the sector. Capital flows to lobbyists, not product innovation. The question advocates of new legislation should be required to answer is where do we want capital to flow in telecommunications where it is not flowing now?

My own answer comes from the United States National Broadband Plan, which boils down to four strategies for improving broadband performance:

1. Drive fiber deeper into the network;
2. Use spectrum more efficiently;
3. Get everyone on broadband; and
4. Use the broadband platform to improve government performance

[Blair Levin is a Fellow at the Aspen Institute and led the FCC team that wrote the National Broadband Plan]