Why competitive broadband matters

The Internet we know today resulted from decades of strong federal competition policy. From the Open Internet order to the defeat of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has continued this trend by actively promoting competition policy in 2015.

As two lifelong advocates for competition, we are proud to have worked together on many successful campaigns. Countless groups, organizations, companies and individuals played an important role in these victories, and we are grateful that we have come together to create a better broadband future for our country.

{mosads}Thanks to the hard and dedicated work of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and his fellow commissioners, the Internet is well positioned for future growth. The chairman and his colleagues put American businesses and consumers before the interests of the broadband gatekeepers, and innovation and technological advancement took precedence over the status quo.

However, while we take this moment to celebrate, we must also remember that there is so much more work to be done.

Year after year, we have watched the few and powerful broadband incumbents exploit their control over the high-capacity pipelines that serve as the base of the information economy. These dedicated broadband lines carry all of our Internet traffic at some point throughout the day, connecting banks, airlines, schools, libraries and hospitals. Whenever we use a mobile device to check our email or make a call, access a web page at the library, process payments with a credit card machine or use any device that sends traffic over the Internet, that transmission crosses an incumbent controlled line along the way. And unfortunately, any provider wishing to offer a competitive alternative to consumers and businesses must also depend on the incumbents for these lines.

Currently, three out of four Americans have either no option or just one choice for wired broadband services. And over 80 percent of all wired broadband subscriptions, both consumer and business, are controlled by a few dominant broadband providers. Because competition is so scarce, these huge broadband gatekeepers can dictate when, where and how much consumers and businesses pay for the broadband access on which we all increasingly depend. And that cost is real. It stifles innovation and investment, drags down economic growth and job creation and costs the economy tens of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs each year. Obviously, because would-be competitive broadband providers are paying outrageous sums to access these lines, they’re unable to invest in technologies that would boost broadband speeds or deploy alternative mobile or fixed broadband services.

Worse, this kind of market power is the kind that consumers don’t necessarily see. Businesses pay too much for the broadband pipelines upon which they rely to power new applications and services. Consumers are impacted every day in the form of hidden fees — from ATMs to a doctor’s office visit. Schools can’t afford the broadband capacity they need to take advantage of the promise of educational advancements, such as digital learning. Each and every day, Americans are blind to the high price they pay as a result.  

The rules for Net Neutrality and the Technology Transitions are important steps in protecting American consumers and businesses from this kind of anti-competitive epidemic — but without real competition we will have just treated the symptoms instead of the underlying disease.

Chairman Wheeler has shown he’s committed to improving the competitive landscape of the broadband market, and, in an effort to get this right, the FCC has undergone, arguably, the most comprehensive data collection exercise in the agency’s history. Now it’s time for action.

We will continue to fight for a more competitive marketplace, but we need the FCC to do the same. We need the commissioners to preserve all the other good work it has done to promote broadband and finish the job.

From protecting an Open Internet to preserving competition through the Tech Transitions, we have a lot to celebrate, but also much work to do. Right now we have a chance to build a new legacy for competition policy, one that brings faster speeds, lower prices and better services to all Americans – but only if we stand together.

Pickering served in the House from 1997 to 2009. He is the CEO of COMPTEL, the competitive networks association. Kimmelman is president and CEO of Public Knowledge and former chief counsel for competition policy of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.