Starting Up the Broadband Economy

[Commentary] 2015 has been a good year for policies that ensure everyone can access the Internet on fair, open, and competitive terms. From network neutrality to the breakdown of the Comcast-Time Warner merger, the Federal Communications Commission is working hard on behalf of the Internet economy to prevent an already top-heavy Internet service provider marketplace from getting a lot worse.

When it comes to startups, every single dollar counts, and the cost of carrying the exorbitant prices for broadband access is a real deterrent. This is precisely why we’ve joined with a broad sector of the broadband world to help cure the underlying “disease” of this control over broadband access. The campaign is called Competify, and while the branding is lighthearted, the message is very serious. Better, faster and more affordable broadband networks fuel the startup economy, and the only way we’ll get there is through more competition. And we need policymakers to help to us do it. We urge the FCC and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to ensure that our voices are heard, and that real reform happens now. America’s entrepreneurs are counting on it.

[Evan Engstrom is the policy director at Engine, a nonprofit that supports the growth of technology entrepreneurship through economic research, policy analysis and advocacy on local and national issues]