Remarks of Brendan Carr, Legal Advisor to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, At New Direction's Digital Single Market Summit

As a leading think tank in Europe, New Direction plays a key role in advancing free market and limited government principles on this side of the Atlantic. It’s a pleasure to join you in Brussels to discuss policies that can encourage investment in broadband networks. The European Commission’s consideration of the Digital Single Market is certainly one of the most prominent of these efforts. So I welcome the chance to join today’s forum and discuss some lessons that one might draw from the US broadband experience...

The Federal Communications Commission’s decision to adopt heavy-handed network neutrality regulations is resulting in less investment and reduced deployment. It will inevitably lead to less robust competition in the broadband market. But despite the FCC’s U turn, I am optimistic that the US will return to the successful, lighttouch approach to the Internet that spurred massive investments in our broadband infrastructure. Efforts are underway in both the courts and Congress to reverse the FCC’s decision. And following 2016’s presidential election, the composition of the FCC could be substantially different than it is today.