Title I for All: Time to Modernize America’s Outdated Telecommunications Rules
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision striking down the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) latest net-neutrality rules did more than just settle a decades-long debate about broadband regulation; it also exposed a fundamental flaw in the United States’ approach to communications policy. In a nutshell, the issue is that we treat traditional telephone service as a heavily regulated “telecommunications service” under an outdated New Deal-era framework.
For nearly 90 years, telephone networks have been regulated as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act, facing extensive obligations on rates, service quality, and universal access. This made sense when AT&T held a monopoly over voice communications. But today’s technology landscape bears little resemblance to that era.