No Broadband Champagne Yet

[Commentary] Despite the considerable merits of the decisions of the Federal Communications Commission to regulate broadband under Title II and challenge two state laws constraining municipal broadband deployment efforts, a sober analysis reveals they will not broadly stimulate upgrades or new deployments. To achieve affordable, abundant bandwidth, our work in the trenches remains in front of us.

While an open Internet is vital, and future applications may well drive future investments, it’s unlikely that Title II alone will accelerate the movement from bandwidth scarcity to abundance, a movement critical to the underlying concerns of all participants in the debate. While I favor the action of the FCC overturning the specific state laws before it, I do not pretend that it will broadly address the key issue first raised in the plan, unfortunately ignored by the previous FCC, but recently highlighted by both Chairman Tom Wheeler and President Obama: At higher broadband speeds, most Americans will not have the competitive options that drive affordable abundance.

The upcoming FCC action on will largely assist efforts in rural areas that often lack cable competition and benefit from federal subsidies. Those models face significant challenges when tried in more densely populated regions where most Americans live.The response to action can be as important as the action. As we move toward the inevitable follow-up proceedings at the FCC, in Congress and the courts, I hope we consider that regulatory regimes have a variable life span, but competitive networks that deliver affordable, abundant bandwidth to all Americans will be a thing of joy forever.

[Blair Levin is the Executive Director of Gig.U]