October 2016

[Commentary] One of the biggest problems facing America’s economy is waning competition. In the home of free enterprise two-thirds of industries have become more concentrated since the 1990s, partly owing to lots of mergers. Fat, cosy incumbents hoard cash, invest less, smother new firms that create jobs and keep prices high. They are rotten for the economy. Boosting competition should be a priority for whoever occupies the White House in 2017, and for Congress. Now a test case is waiting in the in-tray. AT&T, America’s fifth-biggest firm by profits, wants to buy Time Warner, the second-biggest media firm.

The $109 billion megadeal isn’t a simple antitrust case, because it involves a firm buying a supplier, not a competitor. But there is a strong case that it will limit consumer choice in a part of the economy that is rife with rent-seeking and extend a worrying concentration of corporate power. It should be stopped. Precedent suggests that the trustbusters in the Department of Justice (under the auspices of the president), and not the Federal Trade Commission (a creature of Congress), will have the biggest say on the tie-up. This means the deal is being struck just as there is a change of leadership at the top. Those advising on the merger may be gambling that this makes the authorities unlikely to initiate a strong line on vertical mergers. That is all the more reason to be bold. Politicians and regulators may eventually resolve to open up the industry more, for example through “unbundling”, which lets upstart firms use others’ pipes. Until then they should block the AT&T-Time Warner deal and make clear that competition, not consolidation, is the way to get America’s economy working better.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the appointment of Lisa Hone as legal advisor to the Chairman with responsibility for wireline telecommunications issues, and the departure of Stephanie Weiner.

Hone begins work in the Chairman’s office in November. Hone has most recently served as an associate bureau chief in the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB). She has also served as a legal advisor for former Commissioner Michael J. Copps and as a deputy division chief in the Telecommunications Access Policy Division in WCB. Prior to joining the staff of the FCC in 2010, Hone worked at the Federal Trade Commission where she conducted and supervised federal court litigation and rulemaking proceedings involving a wide array of consumer protection issues. Hone has also worked in the US Senate (on detail from the FTC) and in private practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City. Hone earned her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.

Weiner has been at the Commission since 2013, serving as senior legal advisor to the Chairman and, prior to that, in the FCC’s Office of General Counsel. Weiner has served in senior legal positions with Neustar, Inc.; the US Department of Energy; the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau; and as an associate at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, LLP. Weiner earned a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law, a master's from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s from Brown University.

One of the major advantages of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's surveys on computer and Internet use stems from their very large sample size--approximately 53,000 households representing more than 120,000 people. This allows us to break out results by demographics like age, race, income, and education, as well as by state of residence.

Oct 27, we are launching a new feature of our Data Explorer tool enabling users to visualize NTIA's computer and Internet use data by state, with metrics displayed in a national map. Users can easily adjust the map to reflect different datasets, while pressing the "Play" button cycles through datasets to show how the country has changed over time. The map view is available for every metric in Data Explorer, such as use of various devices, locations of Internet use, and online activities.