Broadband Regulation

Research

Innovation, Investment, and Competition in Broadband and the Impact on America’s Digital Economy Roslyn Layton , Michael Horney \| Aug 12, 2014 In a new study for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Roslyn Layton and Michael Horney survey broadband in America and compare broadband costs around the world. They find that the United States is a global leader in broadband, as measured by the level of broadband-enabled economic activity, the number of Internet-based companies, the level of digital exports, and the level of Internet-enabled employment.	Innovations in Mobile Broadband Pricing Daniel Lyons \| Mar 18, 2014 Although intended to promote competition and innovation among Internet content providers,“net neutrality” rules reduce innovation by broadband service providers. Within limits, broadband providers may offer different plans that vary the quantity and quality of their service. But they usually cannot vary the service itself: broadband providers are generally required to offer customers access to all lawful Internet traffic, or none at all. This all-or-nothing broadband homogenization places America increasingly at odds with international markets, particularly with regard to mobile broadband. This paper examines the diverse array of wireless broadband products available worldwide, and uses these international innovations to illuminate the difficulties posed by net neutrality principles in the United States. Broadband access is merely one part of a much broader Internet ecosystem. Regulators’ focus on one narrow set of relationships in that ecosystem retards innovation and limits the ability of Americans to share in the global revolution currently taking place for mobile services.
Reclaiming Federal Spectrum: Proposals and Recommendations Brent Skorup \| May 28, 2013 This paper discusses the history of spectrum management and the commercial and federal uses of the radio frequencies. Several policy proposals for reclaiming federal spectrum are presented, along with recommendations for rationalizing spectrum management.	Do High International Telecom Rates Buy Telecom Sector Growth? Eli Dourado \| Nov 30, 2012 The possible extension of the telephone system’s “sender-pays” rule to the Internet is a contentious international political issue under consideration at the World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT). This paper examines whether higher international telephone rates support or impede telecom sector growth in the receiving country. It uses data on international telephone rates from the US from 1992-2010 to explain growth in foreign telecom sectors during the same period.
The Impact of Data Caps and Other Forms of Usage-Based Pricing for Broadband Access Daniel Lyons \| Oct 09, 2012 This working paper evaluates the merits of data caps and other usage-based pricing strategies. Usage- based pricing shifts more network costs onto heavier Internet users. This can reduce costs for others and make broadband more accessible to low-income consumers. Usage-based pricing can also reduce network congestion. While data caps can be used to hurt competition, antitrust law teaches that regulators should intervene only if consumers suffer harm and cannot switch Internet providers. Otherwise, broadband providers should be free to experiment with different pricing strategies to compete for customers and fund future network upgrades.	Consumer Welfare and TV Program Regulation Bruce M. Owen \| May 24, 2012 Getting rid of obsolete regulation of the broadcast and distribution of video pro- gramming is essential to the efficient operation of a market that has the potential to greatly increase the benefits to consumers.

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Testimony & Comments

Public Interest Comment on the Connect America Fund Jerry Brito, Jerry Ellig \| Apr 15, 2011 Jerry Brito and Jerry Ellig submitted a Public Interest Comment on the Connect America Fund.	Public Interest Comment on the Connect America Fund Jerry Ellig \| Jul 09, 2010 Creation of the Connect America Fund offers the FCC the opportunity to make a clean break with past subsidy disbursement practices that were often ineffective, inefficient, and unaccountable for…
The FCC's National Broadband Plan Christina Forsberg, Jerry Ellig \| Jun 09, 2009 In this Public Interest Comment, Senior Research Fellow Jerry Ellig and Mercatus Graduate Fellow Christina Forsberg make recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission for the national…	Implementing a Broadband Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band Jerry Brito \| Jun 23, 2008 Last year, the FCC attempted to create a national public safety broadband network. It assigned to a nonprofit licensee 12 MHz of public safety spectrum in the 700 MHz band, and held an auction for…

Expert Commentary

Five Myths about Net Neutrality Medium By Brent Skorup \| Feb 23, 2015 Brent Skorup debunks five myths surrounding net neutrality: the Internet has always been neutral; net neutrality regulations are the only way to promote an open Internet; net neutrality regulations improve broadband competition; all prioritized Internet services are harmful to users; net neutrality rules will make broadband cheaper and Internet services like Netflix faster.	Mercatus Scholars on Net Neutrality By Brent Skorup, Eli Dourado, Daniel Lyons, Roslyn Layton , Michael Horney \| Feb 05, 2015 FCC Commissioner Wheeler announced his intention to propose new “Net Neutrality” rules this month which will be voted on by the FCC on February 26. The Mercatus Center’s Technology Policy Program scholars have weighed in heavily on this issue, including Public Comment to the FCC, commentary in the press, and a study on mobile Net Neutrality, “Innovations in Mobile Broadband Pricing.” In addition to these resources, below are highlights from Mercatus scholars on Net Neutrality.
The Economic Impact of Broadband: Where’s the Research? By Brent Skorup \| Jan 14, 2015 In a blog post last month, Brent Skorup reviews a Mercatus Center policy analysis of municipal broadband and explores the lack of research about the economic impact of publically-funded broadband.	Don't Demonize Internet 'Fast Lanes' US News and World Report By Brent Skorup \| Oct 06, 2014 Though the economy has improved only in fits and starts over the past few years, one bright spot remains constant: The technology and communications industry. Part of this success is because Silicon Valley and the tech sector aggressively develop popular consumer products before bureaucrats and lawmakers have time to delay them.
In Defense of Broadband Fast Lanes Recode By Brent Skorup \| May 13, 2014 Unfortunately, the orchestrated reaction in recent weeks might spark rash political decision-making, and leave us with onerous rules, delaying or making impossible new broadband services. Hopefully, in the ensuing months, reason wins out, and FCC staff are persuaded by competitive analysis and possible innovations, not T-shirt slogans.	How Market Forces Are Expanding Broadband Access in the U.S. Reason By Jerry Brito \| Jul 03, 2013 Over the years we have been told that when it comes to broadband, Europe leads America. That the U.S. model tends too much toward monopoly, while Europe’s ensures strong competition among many small players. Well, queue the schadenfreude.

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Experts

Eli Dourado

Eli Dourado is a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and director of its Technology Policy Program.

Adam Thierer is a senior research fellow with the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He specializes in technology, media, Internet, and free-speech policies, with a particular focus on online safety and digital privacy. His writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, and Forbes, and he has appeared on national television and radio. Thierer is a frequent guest lecturer and has testified numerous times on Capitol Hill.

Videos

Brent Skorup Discusses the FCC's Vote on Net Neutrality on CNBC Asia

Brent Skorup | February 26, 2015

Net Neutrality and Maintaining a Free and Open Internet

Brent Skorup | September 25, 2014

Podcasts

Brent Skorup Discusses Net Neutrality on POTUS

Brent Skorup | February 25, 2015

Brent Skorup Discusses Net Neutrality on POTUS

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Recent Events

Net Neutrality and Maintaining a Free and Open Internet

This program will: provide an introduction to net neutrality and briefly explain the history of the debate, lay out the arguments for and against net neutrality, and discuss mechanisms to ensure the Internet remains a vibrantly free conduit and tool for ideas, innovation and economic growth.

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Books

The Case for Internet Optimism, Part 2

Adam Thierer | Jan 31, 2011

A response to fans of the Internet who fear that dark days lie ahead unless steps are taken to "save the Net" from a variety of ills, especially the perceived end of "openness."

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More Media Clippings

Innovation, Investment, and Competition in Broadband and the Impact on America’s Digital Economy Roslyn Layton , Michael Horney \| Aug 12, 2014 In a new study for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Roslyn Layton and Michael Horney survey broadband in America and compare broadband costs around the world. They find that the United States is a global leader in broadband, as measured by the level of broadband-enabled economic activity, the number of Internet-based companies, the level of digital exports, and the level of Internet-enabled employment.	Innovations in Mobile Broadband Pricing Daniel Lyons \| Mar 18, 2014 Although intended to promote competition and innovation among Internet content providers,“net neutrality” rules reduce innovation by broadband service providers. Within limits, broadband providers may offer different plans that vary the quantity and quality of their service. But they usually cannot vary the service itself: broadband providers are generally required to offer customers access to all lawful Internet traffic, or none at all. This all-or-nothing broadband homogenization places America increasingly at odds with international markets, particularly with regard to mobile broadband. This paper examines the diverse array of wireless broadband products available worldwide, and uses these international innovations to illuminate the difficulties posed by net neutrality principles in the United States. Broadband access is merely one part of a much broader Internet ecosystem. Regulators’ focus on one narrow set of relationships in that ecosystem retards innovation and limits the ability of Americans to share in the global revolution currently taking place for mobile services.
Reclaiming Federal Spectrum: Proposals and Recommendations Brent Skorup \| May 28, 2013 This paper discusses the history of spectrum management and the commercial and federal uses of the radio frequencies. Several policy proposals for reclaiming federal spectrum are presented, along with recommendations for rationalizing spectrum management.	Do High International Telecom Rates Buy Telecom Sector Growth? Eli Dourado \| Nov 30, 2012 The possible extension of the telephone system’s “sender-pays” rule to the Internet is a contentious international political issue under consideration at the World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT). This paper examines whether higher international telephone rates support or impede telecom sector growth in the receiving country. It uses data on international telephone rates from the US from 1992-2010 to explain growth in foreign telecom sectors during the same period.
The Impact of Data Caps and Other Forms of Usage-Based Pricing for Broadband Access Daniel Lyons \| Oct 09, 2012 This working paper evaluates the merits of data caps and other usage-based pricing strategies. Usage- based pricing shifts more network costs onto heavier Internet users. This can reduce costs for others and make broadband more accessible to low-income consumers. Usage-based pricing can also reduce network congestion. While data caps can be used to hurt competition, antitrust law teaches that regulators should intervene only if consumers suffer harm and cannot switch Internet providers. Otherwise, broadband providers should be free to experiment with different pricing strategies to compete for customers and fund future network upgrades.	Consumer Welfare and TV Program Regulation Bruce M. Owen \| May 24, 2012 Getting rid of obsolete regulation of the broadcast and distribution of video pro- gramming is essential to the efficient operation of a market that has the potential to greatly increase the benefits to consumers.

Public Interest Comment on the Connect America Fund Jerry Brito, Jerry Ellig \| Apr 15, 2011 Jerry Brito and Jerry Ellig submitted a Public Interest Comment on the Connect America Fund.	Public Interest Comment on the Connect America Fund Jerry Ellig \| Jul 09, 2010 Creation of the Connect America Fund offers the FCC the opportunity to make a clean break with past subsidy disbursement practices that were often ineffective, inefficient, and unaccountable for…
The FCC's National Broadband Plan Christina Forsberg, Jerry Ellig \| Jun 09, 2009 In this Public Interest Comment, Senior Research Fellow Jerry Ellig and Mercatus Graduate Fellow Christina Forsberg make recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission for the national…	Implementing a Broadband Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band Jerry Brito \| Jun 23, 2008 Last year, the FCC attempted to create a national public safety broadband network. It assigned to a nonprofit licensee 12 MHz of public safety spectrum in the 700 MHz band, and held an auction for…

Five Myths about Net Neutrality Medium By Brent Skorup \| Feb 23, 2015 Brent Skorup debunks five myths surrounding net neutrality: the Internet has always been neutral; net neutrality regulations are the only way to promote an open Internet; net neutrality regulations improve broadband competition; all prioritized Internet services are harmful to users; net neutrality rules will make broadband cheaper and Internet services like Netflix faster.	Mercatus Scholars on Net Neutrality By Brent Skorup, Eli Dourado, Daniel Lyons, Roslyn Layton , Michael Horney \| Feb 05, 2015 FCC Commissioner Wheeler announced his intention to propose new “Net Neutrality” rules this month which will be voted on by the FCC on February 26. The Mercatus Center’s Technology Policy Program scholars have weighed in heavily on this issue, including Public Comment to the FCC, commentary in the press, and a study on mobile Net Neutrality, “Innovations in Mobile Broadband Pricing.” In addition to these resources, below are highlights from Mercatus scholars on Net Neutrality.
The Economic Impact of Broadband: Where’s the Research? By Brent Skorup \| Jan 14, 2015 In a blog post last month, Brent Skorup reviews a Mercatus Center policy analysis of municipal broadband and explores the lack of research about the economic impact of publically-funded broadband.	Don't Demonize Internet 'Fast Lanes' US News and World Report By Brent Skorup \| Oct 06, 2014 Though the economy has improved only in fits and starts over the past few years, one bright spot remains constant: The technology and communications industry. Part of this success is because Silicon Valley and the tech sector aggressively develop popular consumer products before bureaucrats and lawmakers have time to delay them.
In Defense of Broadband Fast Lanes Recode By Brent Skorup \| May 13, 2014 Unfortunately, the orchestrated reaction in recent weeks might spark rash political decision-making, and leave us with onerous rules, delaying or making impossible new broadband services. Hopefully, in the ensuing months, reason wins out, and FCC staff are persuaded by competitive analysis and possible innovations, not T-shirt slogans.	How Market Forces Are Expanding Broadband Access in the U.S. Reason By Jerry Brito \| Jul 03, 2013 Over the years we have been told that when it comes to broadband, Europe leads America. That the U.S. model tends too much toward monopoly, while Europe’s ensures strong competition among many small players. Well, queue the schadenfreude.

Mercatus Center

Broadband Regulation