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GAO: Some progress on Lifeline reform, but much still to do
As Congress’s watchdog, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) does not pull punches when assessing how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. In March 2015, the agency issued a blistering...
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Dispelling myths about US and global internet speeds
Some commentators have been quick to complain about the prices Americans pay for internet services and the apparent low quality of services offered in comparison to selected international benchmarks....
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Investing in the future of the internet and work
As I type this blog from my home office, in a blissful (if rare) moment of children quietly finishing chores, two recent stories from The Wall Street Journal on working remotely have caught my eye. On...
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Should cities compete with their ISPs? University of Pennsylvania study warns...
Yet another academic study has given municipal broadband a failing grade. Not that there are a lot of actual studies of what happens when a government that regulates businesses also competes with them...
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Cisco’s report on internet trends: Implications for tech policy
Last week Cisco Systems released its latest Visual Networking Index report. The white paper is part of an ongoing series that tracks and forecasts trends in regional and global Internet Protocol (IP)...
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5G innovation in the states
The fate of the Open Internet Order, also known as net neutrality, consumes much of the technology policy oxygen in Washington, DC. But the future of wireless broadband is surprisingly also contingent...
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The new FCC can only do so much; keeping the internet free requires legislation
Ajit Pai, the new chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), announced on April 26 a plan to undo the work of previous chairman Tom Wheeler’s FCC and bring back light-touch regulation to the...
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Telecom regulations: Don’t let history repeat itself
A well-known adage about human endeavors is that “history repeats itself.” I prefer an equally popular but more optimistic adage: “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.” Before you say...
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Data on data — the New Zealand story
It has been somewhat of an article of faith among many in telecommunications circles that provisioning fast fiber to entire populations will unleash, if not a tsunami of economic growth, then at least...
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Why is telecommunications taxed like a sin?
With the way governments in the United States treat telecommunications providers, you would think that the providers’ services came with a surgeon general warning. Generally speaking, governments...
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Wireless incentive auction surprises activists, suggests more humility
The certitude of many technology activists and self-styled experts is amusing. They told us, for example, that if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) didn’t change course in 2015 and apply the...
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Has Australia really bungled its $36 billion high-speed internet rollout?
Last week in The New York Times, Andrew McMillen boldly claimed not just that Australia had “bungled its $36 billion high-speed internet rollout” but that he could actually explain how it had managed...
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A win for the internet: The FCC wants to repeal Title II net neutrality...
Earlier today, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai proposed that the agency repeal its 2015 decision to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers under Title II of the...
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Public utility regulation of broadband: Lessons from the electricity industry
Earlier this week, long-time broadband industry critic Susan Crawford published a New York Times op-ed renewing her call for public utility regulation of internet providers. Crawford has long suggested...
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The FCC’s plan to close the digital divide with open innovation
Shortly after being designated as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Ajit Pai announced his moon shot: closing the digital divide. In a refreshing and pragmatic break from central...
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Broadband subsidies for education: Are they worth the cost?
When a government spends billions of dollars to roll out ultra-fast fiber broadband (UFB) to more than 70 percent of the population, with the priority on connecting the country’s schools first, one...
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Rural broadband deployment: The market-oriented way
Now that the White House, Congress, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are getting serious about rural broadband deployment — in contrast to the past eight years — it is time to develop...
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Five flawed assumptions of broadband infrastructure policy
Kudos to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s for its recent hearing on Broadband: Deploying America's 21st Century Infrastructure. The session demonstrated different views on how and to what...
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Government-funded fiber: Deadweight loss or merit good?
As we leave the festive season behind us, inevitably the costs of overindulgence start to mount. While the costs of physical excess are immediately evident in expanded waistlines and diminished bank...
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Toward an activity-based definition of minimum broadband speed
Broadband speed has become a key metric for internet policy. Outgoing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler has repeatedly emphasized that 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download...
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