FCC Report Falsely Claims Killing Net Neutrality Already Helping Broadband Competition

FCC Report Falsely Claims Killing Net Neutrality Already Helping Broadband Competition

6 years ago
Anonymous $v9r5mEH86V

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180206/08590739162/fcc-report-falsely-claims-killing-net-neutrality-already-helping-broadband-competition.shtml

For years the FCC has been caught in a vicious cycle. Under the Communications Act, the FCC is required to issue annual reports on the state of U.S. broadband and competition, taking action if services aren't being deployed in a "reasonable and timely" basis. When under the grip of regulatory capture and revolving door regulators, these reports tends to be artificially rosy, downplaying or ignoring the lack of competition that should be obvious to anybody familiar with Comcast. These folks' denial of the sector's competition shortcomings often teeters toward the comical and is usually hard to miss.

When the agency has more independently-minded leadership (which admittedly doesn't happen often), the report tends to accurately show how the majority of consumers lack real options and quality broadband. That was the case under former FCC boss Tom Wheeler, whose agency not only raised the definition of broadband to 25 Mbps (which greatly angered the industry), but actually went out of its way to highlight the fact that two-thirds of American homes lack access to FCC-defined speeds of 25 Mbps from more than one ISP (aka a monopoly).

FCC Report Falsely Claims Killing Net Neutrality Already Helping Broadband Competition

Feb 7, 2018, 3:19pm UTC
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180206/08590739162/fcc-report-falsely-claims-killing-net-neutrality-already-helping-broadband-competition.shtml >For years the FCC has been caught in a vicious cycle. Under the Communications Act, the FCC is required to issue annual reports on the state of U.S. broadband and competition, taking action if services aren't being deployed in a "reasonable and timely" basis. When under the grip of regulatory capture and revolving door regulators, these reports tends to be artificially rosy, downplaying or ignoring the lack of competition that should be obvious to anybody familiar with Comcast. These folks' denial of the sector's competition shortcomings often teeters toward the comical and is usually hard to miss. >When the agency has more independently-minded leadership (which admittedly doesn't happen often), the report tends to accurately show how the majority of consumers lack real options and quality broadband. That was the case under former FCC boss Tom Wheeler, whose agency not only raised the definition of broadband to 25 Mbps (which greatly angered the industry), but actually went out of its way to highlight the fact that two-thirds of American homes lack access to FCC-defined speeds of 25 Mbps from more than one ISP (aka a monopoly).