Comments of ICLE & TechFreedom, In the Matter of Connect America Fund Universal Service Gigabit Communities Race-to-the-Top Program Petition, FCC

Summary

“It’s been said, of the newest technology, that speed could change everything. If only we could cross a certain speed threshold, our basic infrastructure would catalyze new opportunities we can scarcely even conceive of. All government needs to do is prime the pump: fund a demonstration project to prove that we can do it, and markets will follow. The demand may not be there yet, but “if you build it, they will come…”

“There are some impediments to the sort of broadband connectivity people actually do want — most importantly local and state regulations that reduce competition and increase the cost of new facilities. The FCC should consider ways to encourage state and local governments to reduce these regulatory barriers rather than create an expensive new program to subsidize a particular technology (fiber) picked because of an arbitrary, top-down decision that people should have a certain speed – even if they don’t yet want it. The FCC should heed the wisdom of Australia’s new Communications Minister who explained his government’s decision to abandon plans for a national fiber-to-the-home network in favor of subsidizing far less  expensive, but slightly slower, fiber-to-the node connectivity…”