Showing 9 of 320 Publications in Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Agenda?: The Emergence of China in the Global Internet Standard-Setting Arena

Scholarship Abstract China is making an active push to enlarge its role in the development of Internet-related technical standards. The prevailing narrative surrounding this trend suggests . . .

Abstract

China is making an active push to enlarge its role in the development of Internet-related technical standards. The prevailing narrative surrounding this trend suggests that Beijing is aiming to uproot the liberal, democratic values embedded in the Internet’s technical foundation and governance arrangements in favor of authoritarian-friendly alternatives. For many, these fears were fully realized when Chinese tech giant Huawei came to the UN-affiliated International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and proposed the development of a future core Internet protocol called “New IP”. This proposal allegedly sought to redesign the architecture of the Internet in a way that would both enhance and export the Chinese government’s capacity for digital repression. Informed by the understanding of Chinese standards influence as a geopolitical and ideological threat, many are now calling for a more aggressive response to countering Chinese engagement in Internet standards bodies.

Yet, the conventional narrative seems to be missing something. Specifically, it overlooks the fact that the sophisticated Internet control apparatus China has developed over the years can already censor and surveil quite effectively at present and that shifting responsibility for core protocol development to the state-driven ITU would not necessarily enhance its ability to do so. A more comprehensive understanding of this trend is needed.

Using New IP as the primary case study, this article examines China’s standard-setting push, its potential motivations, and its implications for the future of the global Internet. We conclude that it is far from clear that New IP was indeed intended as a trojan horse for digital authoritarianism. Observing that technical evolution of the Internet—particularly the type endorsed in Huawei’s proposal—plays a prominent role in China’s long-term industrial policy strategy, we find it equally plausible that New IP was motivated by economic considerations, something that has largely been absent from the debate over China’s standards ambitions. We thus caution against the presumption that Chinese-developed standards are intended to advance the cause of digital repression as well as against politically driven opposition to growing Chinese participation at Internet standard-setting bodies. This insight is crucial, as the way American policymakers and Internet stakeholders respond to this trend will undoubtedly impact both the future of the global Internet and U.S. technological leadership in this domain.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Network Slicing and Net Neutrality

Scholarship Abstract Whether network slicing complies with the net neutrality rules currently in force in Europe and previously applicable in the U.S. presents a key issue . . .

Abstract

Whether network slicing complies with the net neutrality rules currently in force in Europe and previously applicable in the U.S. presents a key issue in the deployment of 5G. In many ways, both regimes frame the issues in a similar manner, with the exceptions for reasonable traffic management and specialized services likely to play the most important roles. Both regimes also focus on similar considerations, including the requirement that measures be based on technical rather than business considerations and the distinction between measures aimed at improving the performance of the entire network or specific applications, although both distinctions are problematic in some respects. Both regimes also emphasize application agnosticism and end-user choice, with European law finding the former implicit in the latter. At the same time, European and U.S. law reflect some key differences: the regimes cover different types of entities, frame the issues in terms of nondiscrimination versus throttling and paid prioritization, take different positions on whether measures must be limited to temporary or exceptional circumstances, and place different weight on the impact of the rules on investment and on the relevance industry standards. The relatively undeveloped state of both legal regimes means that the ultimate answer must await enforcement decisions and actions by NRAs, and any subsequent judicial challenges to these decisions.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

The IEA’s Net Zero Pathway Is Economically Illiterate

Popular Media The International Energy Agency (IEA) is either woefully economically ignorant or intent on misleading world governments with respect to the so-called net zero energy transition. . . .

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is either woefully economically ignorant or intent on misleading world governments with respect to the so-called net zero energy transition. This much is clear to me, as an economist, after reading the recent report from the RealClearFoundation and the Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRF) on the IEA’s net zero scenario.

Read the full piece here.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Congress Should Pull the Brakes on Redefining Railroads’ Common Carrier Obligations

Popular Media A longstanding principle of common law in both the United States and the United Kingdom recognizes the value of establishing “common carriers”— that is, entities . . .

A longstanding principle of common law in both the United States and the United Kingdom recognizes the value of establishing “common carriers”— that is, entities that transport goods, people or services for the benefit of the general public with an obligation not to discriminate among them. Unlike private or “contract” carriers, a common carrier operates under a license provided by a regulator, who retains authority to interpret the carrier’s obligations to the public.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Plaintiffs’ Remedy Lies in the Messy Democratic Process

Popular Media The 16 young Montanans who have sued in state court seeking a judicial declaration that the state of Montana‘s policies violate their right to a . . .

The 16 young Montanans who have sued in state court seeking a judicial declaration that the state of Montanas policies violate their right to a clean and healthful environment under Article IX, Section 1, of the Montana Constitution are surely both sincere and well intentioned. Climate change is a serious public concern that should focus the attention of Montana law makers. The plaintiff s allege that the states policies violate their constitutional rights by both contributing to and failing to do enough to combat climate change. They may well be right about the effects of state policies, but it is not within the competence or authority of the judiciary to second guess or override those policies. The trial judge has recognized as much by indicating that the only remedy she will consider is a declaratory judgment. But even a declaration that state policies violate the constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment would require the judge to conclude that there are better policies the executive and legislature should enact.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

While Congress Delays, the Task Force Will Play

TOTM With the first day of summer less than a week away and political silly season just around the corner, we don’t have much time for . . .

With the first day of summer less than a week away and political silly season just around the corner, we don’t have much time for hootenannies. Congress needs to channel the wisdom of Jerry Reed, who noted: “We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there.”

Read the full piece here.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Two FCC Commissioners Walk Into a Bar 

TOTM Grab a partner, find a group, and square up for Truth on the Market’s second Telecom Hootenanny. We’ve got spectrum auctions, broadband subsidies, and a . . .

Grab a partner, find a group, and square up for Truth on the Market’s second Telecom Hootenanny. We’ve got spectrum auctions, broadband subsidies, and a European 5G tango.

Read the full piece here.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Dynamic Competition Proves There Is No Captive Audience: 10 Years, 10G, and YouTube TV

TOTM In Susan Crawford’s 2013 book “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age,” the Harvard Law School professor argued that . . .

In Susan Crawford’s 2013 book “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age,” the Harvard Law School professor argued that the U.S. telecommunications industry had become dominated by a few powerful companies, leading to limited competition and negative consequences for consumers, especially for broadband internet.

Crawford’s ire was focused particularly on Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon, as she made the case that these three firms were essentially monopolies that had divided territories and set up roadblocks through mergers, vertical integration, and influence over regulators and franchisors to prevent competition and innovation. In particular, she noted the power Comcast commanded in securing access to live sports, allowing them to effectively prevent cord-cutting and limit competition from other cable companies.

According to Crawford, the consequences of this monopoly power were high prices for service, poor customer service, and limited access to high-speed internet in certain areas, particularly in rural and low-income communities. In effect, she saw no incentives for broadband companies to invest in high-speed and reliable internet. In response, she proposed increased competition and regulation, including the development of fiber-based municipal broadband to foster greater consumer choice, lower prices, and improved access to reliable internet service.

A decade later, the broadband market is far more dynamically competitive than critics like Crawford believed was possible. YouTube TV’s rights to NFL Sunday Ticket (as well as the massive amount of programming available online) suggests that Comcast did not have the control over important programming like live sports that would have enabled them to prevent cord-cutting or to limit competition. And the rise of 10G broadband also suggests that there is much more competition in the broadband market than Crawford believed was possible, as her “future proof” goal of symmetrical 1Gb Internet will soon be slower than what the market actually provides.

Read the full piece here.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

There’s Nothing ‘Fair’ About EU Telecoms’ Proposed ‘Fair Share’ Plan

TOTM The European Commission’s recently concluded consultation on “the future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure” was a curious phenomenon in which the commission . . .

The European Commission’s recently concluded consultation on “the future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure” was a curious phenomenon in which the commission revived the seemingly dead-and-buried idea of a legally mandated “sender pays” network-traffic scheme, despite the fact that it remains as unpopular and discredited as it was when last discussed roughly a decade ago.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities