An Open Letter on Lessons from the Telecommunications Act of 1996

Just as the ’96 Act benefitted from years of work in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission focused on the economics and technologies of the then-upcoming transition to digital networks prior to the passage of the legislation, the FCC needs to be forward-looking and contemplate the FCC’s role in the AI transition. Further, as the ’96 Act was the last time the federal government overhauled how it regulated a critical sector with a different approach and multiple rule changes, it is the most important example to examine as we contemplate how best to respond to the AI transition. In that light, I would urge that the agency’s leaders to examine the following questions:

• How can the FCC provide Congress and the American public the information they need to develop better policies and make better decisions in addressing the opportunities and risks of the AI economy and society?
• What are the communications networks we need for our country to thrive in the AI economy?
• What are the gaps in making such networks accessible and affordable to all?  That is, how should we adjust and reform the Universal Service Fund, as we did when we moved from voice to mobile and then to broadband, for an AI economy and society?
• How do we protect children in the AI economy and society?
• What are the new models for consumers to make informed decisions about the AI products they use that can propel a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom?
• How do we protect against cyber and national security risks?
• How can the tools that underly the AI economy improve the delivery of essential public services, including education, health care, and public safety?
• What new powers does the FCC need, or should there be new expert agency, to address the issues we know we will face in the AI economy and society?

[Blair Levin is the Policy Advisor to New Street Research and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro. Prior to joining New Street, Blair served as Chief of Staff to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt (1993-1997), directed the writing of the United States National Broadband Plan (2009-2010), and was a policy analyst for the equity research teams at Legg Mason and Stifel Nicolaus.]