Competition/Antitrust

President Biden and Vice President Harris announced their support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century – an investment that will make our economy more sustainable, resilient, and just. The $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework is a critical step in implementing President Biden’s Build Back Better vision.

With broadband affordability especially high on the agenda following the pandemic, it could seem that Europe has all the answers. Yet Europe has its own struggles with digital divide, and it hasn't cracked the affordability problem across the board.

States throughout the country have created programs to expand broadband connectivity for their residents.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) includes up to $350 billion in funding to be distributed to the states for a variety of projects, broadband included.

Shrihari Pandit, CEO of fiber ISP Stealth Communications, argued the creation of an open access conduit system across the US could help spur broadband competition by lowering barriers to entry for new players. Pandit pitched the construction of a conduit highway akin to the Interstate, which would allow fiber to be more easily run between cities and towns. The CEO stressed the government should only be responsible for building the conduits and not for running fiber or other lines, leaving decisions about what technology to use up to providers.

The pandemic made it clearer than ever how much we depend on a fast, reliable broadband. But getting online for millions of Americans is too costly and in many cases the service is inadequate. Robust competition creates scrutiny and accountability that can prevent big telecommunications companies from expanding data cap limits when people are more dependent than ever on an internet connection. Even during the pandemic, Comcast and other internet service providers still enforce these data caps in markets where they face little or no competition.

Google and Amazon defended their smart-speaker businesses as US senators warned the grip the companies have over the market could harm competition and consumer privacy. Both Republicans and Democrats at a June 15 hearing raised concerns about what they said were anticompetitive practices, such as selling devices below cost and promoting companies' own services over those of competitors on their platforms. Representatives from Google and Amazon argued that they prevent this by offering an optional range of rival voice-assistant services on their own devices.

Public officials in Ohio fear that language in the state's proposed $75 billion budget could put municipal broadband internet services out of business. The language, which appears aimed at protecting private broadband providers, was inserted without prior public discussion during recent Ohio Senate deliberations on the state's two-year budget. Local officials say this would endanger planned upgrades to public safety services, improved school and library services, plus business and economic development tools.

AT&T CEO John Stankey called President Biden's plan to fund municipal broadband networks "misguided" and said the US shouldn't pay for any broadband deployment in areas that already have networks. But as AT&T and others lobby against public networks and government-funded competition, Stankey said he is confident that Congress will steer legislation in the more "pragmatic" direction that AT&T favors. "It would be a shame that we take taxpayer money or ask local governments to go into a business that they don't run today," Stankey said.

Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the Promoting Rights and Online Speech Protections to Ensure Every Consumer is Heard (PRO-SPEECH) Act (S.2301). This bill would establish baseline protections to prohibit Big Tech from engaging in unfair, deceptive, or anti-competitive practices that limit or control consumers’ speech. The PRO-SPEECH Act aims to: