Broadband to the Home: Broadband to America

In a speech to the Broadband Properties Summit last month, Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate said, "I have been a strong proponent of a light regulatory touch for broadband service provided over cable systems, telephone lines, power lines, and wireless platforms. This helps ensure what we refer to as a level playing field - or equality of regulation - among competing providers, no matter the technology or business model. Such a light-touch approach also is consistent with my regulatory philosophy, which is simple, straightforward, and built on a long tradition of limited but effective government. It calls for, first and foremost, regulatory humility. I look to and especially encourage the industry to put forward creative, market-based solutions whenever possible. I recognize that most of the consumer benefits we see in the communications sector of the U.S. economy are directly related to the significant levels of competition in this sector, driven by deregulatory policies that have encouraged investment and thus fostered that competition. Of course, I also understand the need for regulation to promote well-specified social goals that otherwise might not be addressed, such as E911. More specifically, I understand the need for regulation if and when there is a clear market failure. Such market failure is probably less common in communications markets as compared to other sectors, but we should not assume that it does not exist."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-282030A1.doc


Broadband to the Home: Broadband to America