Internet Regulation Takes Center Stage, Again

The internet is back in the news with last week’s “Net Neutrality” remarks by Thomas Wheeler, FCC Chairman.  Seems like every two or three months some government or industry leader makes some pronouncement about rules and regulations for the internet, and how, if enacted, they will either be the death knell for the internet in the USA or enable the internet to expand in unprecedented speed and availability for all.

The current discussions and arguments deal with the FCC’s desire to regulate internet providers under some of the same regulations imposed on telephone companies.  Currently there are certain “common carrier” restrictions on telephone companies that, if placed on internet providers, would make “net neutrality” the law of the land.  Simply put, net neutrality means that internet service providers, or I.S.P.s, can’t give one website an advantage over another, or allow companies to pay extra to have their data placed on a “faster lane” ahead of competitors. 

For many internet providers the imposition of regulation on their business is portrayed as nothing short of a disaster.  They maintain that any regulation will stifle competition and innovation.   Such protestations deserve some investigation.

Regulation and innovation seem to coexist in the mobile phone business.  The services, options and costs have not been hampered by regulation.   For sure, competition continues among several companies with different plans, subscription fees and options vying for your business.

The argument that somehow these regulations will keep the companies from providing better service also seems to ring hollow.  I have written about this often.  The internet speeds that most of us have available at home or at the office are laughable compared to those available in other parts of the world.  Apart from some US communities like Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kansas City and Ephrata, a tiny burg in Washington State, our internet speeds lag way behind the rest of the world.   This is not because of regulation.

Access to the internet is no longer a luxury.  In many cases good access is more important than access to the telephone.  Shopping, banking, communicating or just making a living would not be possible in today’s world without the internet.  Because it is so important, it seems to me that some regulation and oversight is a good idea.

I do worry that the businesses providing internet in the USA, as slow as they are, will find it difficult to deal with the FCC bureaucracy which often moves at a glacial pace.  We could hope that the FCC will be forced to move quicker and the internet providers will see that a faster internet is both a good business strategy and good for the American economy.