Lenard Files Comments with FCC on Preserving the Open Internet Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Broadband
High-speed data connections, or broadband, are critical to the economy. Our work on broadband covers a wide range of topics, including the digital divide, wireline and wireless provision, spectrum, net neutrality, competition, and more.
FCC’s Open Internet Rules Should Not Be Adopted
The Federal Communications Commission should not adopt its proposed Open Internet Rules, according to comments by TPI president and senior fellow Thomas Lenard. Lenard argues that “the Commission has not provided evidence showing that the rules would address a significant problem or market failure, has not identified harms to users that the proposed rules would remedy, and has not demonstrated that the benefits of the proposed rules would exceed their costs.”
Lenard Critiques Berkman Center Broadband Study
The broadband study prepared by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society to help the Federal Communications Commission develop a National Broadband Plan is “incomplete and not objective,” according to TPI President and Senior Fellow Thomas Lenard. Lenard said the study “did not accomplish its intended purpose,” in an analysis submitted in response to the Commission’s request for comments on the study.
Wallsten to be Economics Director of FCC Broadband Task Force
The FCC has named TPI Vice President for Research and Senior Fellow Scott Wallsten economics director of its broadband task force, which is charged with developing the U.S. national broadband plan. Wallsten will take a temporary leave of absence from TPI to work on the plan, which is scheduled to be completed in February, 2010. He will return to his position at TPI after the task force has completed its work.
U.S. Broadband Market Working Well Overall, But Gaps Remain
The broadband market in the U.S. is working well overall, as evidenced by nearly ubiquitous coverage, rapid adoption, large investments, and increasing speeds, according to comments submitted to the FCC regarding a national broadband plan by TPI Vice President for Research and Senior Fellow Scott Wallsten and Oxford Visiting Senior Fellow Robert Hahn. However, the market is not working well for all people in all places, and Hahn and Wallsten offer two general and seven specific recommendations to address those issues.
Broadband Competition in the 21st Century: A Transatlantic Perspective
The debate over broadband policy transcends national boundaries and has become even more important in the current economic environment as the financial crisis leads the U.S. to include broadband in its economic stimulus efforts and the EU to consider something similar. Since the mid-1990s information and communications technologies have contributed substantially to economic growth, productivity improvements, and, thus, higher living standards on both sides of the Atlantic.