FCC Regulatory Free Arena

[Press release] As consequential as the Federal Communications Commission can be in communications policy, it is critical for those in leadership positions to acknowledge that its authority and reach is inherently limited. In fact, current law prevents the Commission from having any role or oversight over numerous modern technologies central to many Americans' communications habits. This universe is an FCC regulatory free arena. These services are capturing Americans' attention, and thus the market share and advertising dollars of legacy providers, on an astronomically fast pace with no letup in sight.

It should be impossible for policymakers to ignore their immense popularity, the substitutability of services with those offered by Commission regulatees, and the disruptive force non-regulated services are having with regards to the Commission's activities. That is, the need for the Commission's regulatory structures (and therefore its relevance and function) are fading like that of a snowman in springtime or, more on point, like the steep decline of the traditional switched access voice telephone service. This rapid development and momentous shift of consumer preferences toward application-centric offerings, requires the Commission to evolve its overall approach. The Commission must rethink outdated terminology and market definitions. Continuing to label and regulate certain providers as "incumbents" based on legacy notions of competition instead of marketplace realities makes no sense. If an existing FCC regulatee is in the voice, video, or data business, they should be knocking down our doors to demand fundamental and colossal relief. Ultimately, the only logical take-away from this information is to either support greater deregulation of FCC regulatees that must compete with these services or advocate for new Congressional powers to regulate these services, which would seem futile and unnecessary. At a minimum, people should realize that the Commission's role is much narrower than they may have originally assumed.

[FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly]