Competition/Antitrust

Providing internet to every household and small business by 2030 may not take a village, but it will require the efforts of local officials and service providers working together to pave the way for fast and efficient construction, an effort that the National Association of Counties (NACo) says its members have been steadily working on. “About two years ago, we put together NACo’s Broadband Task Force,” said Seamus Dowdall, NACo's Associate Legislative Director for Telecommunications & Technology. The task force generated a report to define how counties could facilitate the deployment o

People continue to cut ties with cable broadband providers as reports from MoffettNathanson show cable broadband subscriber growth numbers are plummeting year over year.  Broadband cable started 2021 with 6.9 percent growth year over year and continued to fall roughly 1 percent each quarter throughout the year, ending with 3.8 percent growth.

The second quarter (Q2) of the year is usually a tough stretch for cable operators.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking action against Amazon for its years-long effort to enroll consumers into its Prime program without their consent while knowingly making it difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions to Prime. In a complaint, the FTC charges that Amazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime.

Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA)—as well as Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ)—reintroduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. This bipartisan legislation would restore competition online by establishing common sense rules of the road for dominant digital platforms to prevent them from abusing their market power to hurt competition, online businesses, and consumers. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act will:

In Ammon, Idaho, every home has access to a fiber optic connection with 1 gigabit per second download and upload speeds. It costs roughly $30 per month. And it’s not controlled by a single big company. Nine different providers can offer you that connection.

The latest development in ongoing skirmishes over One-Touch-Make-Ready (OTMR) policies is that competitive provider GoNetspeed testified in favor of legislation that would make the approach available in Massachusetts. OTMR rules require the owners of utility poles to allow one contractor to make changes, including moving an incumbent provider’s equipment. Traditionally, each provider handles its own equipment. Proponents of OTMR say that such rules speed service deployment.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in a filing on behalf of the US government, urged the European Commission to promote affordable access to broadband, protect users’ access to online content, and avoid discriminatory measures that distort competition. The filing on May 19 is in response to the European Commission’s exploratory consultation on The Future

Comcast doesn't expect to generate much broadband subscriber growth in the near term, but the operator is holding fast to an expectation that the picture will change… eventually. Comcast grew its broadband base by a mere 3,000 broadband subscribers in Q1 2023. Comcast, like other cable operators, is weathering a mix of factors in the broadband market.

On December 14, 2022, Openreach notified Ofcom of a new pricing offer for its full-fiber services (Equinox 2). This offer gives lower prices to retail providers—such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Vodafone—if they agree to use mainly Openreach’s full-fiber products for new orders instead of its legacy copper products. Having carefully assessed the range of evidence available—including responses to public consultation—Ofcom has decided not to prevent Equinox 2 from being introduced.