Obamanet Is Hurting Broadband

[Commentary] Economist Hal Singer of the Progressive Policy Institute found that in the first half of 2015, as the Federal Communications Commission’s new regulations were being crafted in Washington, major ISPs reduced capital expenditure by an average of 12%, while the overall industry average dropped 8%. Capital spending was down 29% at AT&T and Charter Communications, 10% at Cablevision, and 4% at Verizon. Comcast increased capital spending, but on a new home-entertainment operating system, not broadband. Until now, spending had fallen year-to-year only twice in the history of broadband: in 2001 after the dot-com bust, and in 2009 after the recession. Silicon Valley’s ability to continue disrupting government cartels such as taxis is threatened by Washington’s treatment of the Internet itself as a utility. Companies like Netflix that encouraged regulation will have no one to blame but themselves if broadband investment continues to plummet. Consumers, however, want more bandwidth and have done nothing to deserve Obamanet.