Broadband access created by stimulus must uphold open Internet principles

[Commentary] Congress has committed billions for building out high-speed Internet connections in rural and underserved areas. Given the outsize impact that Internet innovation has had on job creation, investment and consumer choice over the last decade, dedicating 1 percent of the stimulus to expand broadband availability is a no-brainer. This relatively small investment is critical to the future of Silicon Valley and the overall competitiveness of our nation. However, to be truly effective, the broadband build-out must adhere to openness standards designed to protect the innovation for which Silicon Valley is known. Network neutrality, or openness, requirements must be a condition of these government grants and tax credits. If we fail to require openness, we will see an inevitable trend toward closed networks that will not maximize the economic benefit of our broadband investment. Unfortunately, the proprietary interests of the phone and cable companies who operate the private networks that make up the public Internet can collide with the ethos of openness. Congress would do well to recall that Ma Bell once kept the Mickey Mouse phone off its network for no better reason than that it could. Public money must serve the public interest and promote consumer choice and innovation. Taxpayers should not be subsidizing a network that is friendlier to the needs of public companies. It is imperative that as Congress allocates scarce public resources to these companies to increase broadband availability, the principle of openness is maintained and protected.