FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler
On Thursday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler gave a much anticipated speech—as the world breathlessly awaits the outcome of the commission's Comcast/Time Warner merger and net neutrality decisions. But
he told us next to nothing about what the commission might actually do on either of those issues.
The focus of the speech was on competition, recognizing that "meaningful competition for high-speed wired broadband is lacking and Americans need more competitive choices for faster and better Internet connections, both to take advantage of today’s new services, and to incentivize the development of tomorrow’s innovations." His very strong focus on competition might indicate where the commission is leaning on the Comcast merger—after all, it would mean that two of the nation's four major providers would combine—but open internet advocates, like Free Press' policy director Matt Wood, are skeptical.
"The real proof will be in the agency's actions and not just its speeches. Beyond blocking the disastrous merger proposals in front of it, the FCC needs to take concrete steps to promote competition. It must understand that bedrock principles like nondiscrimination apply even in competitive and deregulated telecom markets. And it should start by actually collecting and better analyzing data on broadband competition and pricing—information the big ISPs have been so reluctant to turn over to the agency and to independent researchers studying this issue."
One of the high points of his speech was redefining "high speed" internet to mean download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second (mbps). The FCC's official definition is stuck back in the 20th century at 4 mbps, so this is encouraging. But for all the good stuff that Wheeler said, what he didn't say was what he was going to do to preserve net neutrality. He talked in circles, providing justification for whatever route the commission chooses to take on broadband, whether it's giving in to the providers on the merger and net neutrality, or using the commission's power to make sure that there's real competition and true net neutrality. His path to do this is clear:
- Use Title II authority to promote broadband expansion and to prevent Big Telecom from creating fast and slow lanes on the internet.
- Reject the Comcast/Time Warner merger. If you want to promote competition, you don’t allow two of the four national broadband providers to merge.
We've got until September 15 to tell Wheeler and the FCC to do just that.
Please take a moment to sign and send a personal comment to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler urging him to do the right thing.