Forget Net Neutrality, Focus on Fiber

[Commentary] All eyes are on the Federal Communications Commission as the agency will vote on Feb. 26 to reclassify the Internet under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act. But in a less noticed, more amusing vote on Jan. 29 the FCC declared that a “high-speed” Internet connection is defined as 25 megabits a second or faster—up from four megabits a second. What’s so funny? The commissioners are lowballing it, and they know it.

Unlike the billion-fold or even 10-million-fold improvements of silicon or storage, communications speeds have improved merely 10,000 times. That is pretty good compared with the pace of the post office, but not with the rest of technology. What’s gone wrong? The answer is simple: Regulation has left U.S. infrastructure stuck in the past. Instead of arguing about broadband speeds or invented problems like “net neutrality,” we ought to be focused on the regulations and cronyism that impede running fiber on our poles and under our roads and lawns. It is time to adopt a Quick Dig doctrine. The FCC can encourage the rollout by mandating that municipalities open up their infrastructure to all who wish to install fiber—instead of using access to extort money from would-be providers. New companies would show up to lay fiber. Wall Street would funnel capital to those with the best prospects. Some may ask: Do we really want the federal government changing local laws? It is a scary thought, but it is necessary: Web traffic crosses state lines. The FCC should stop quibbling over “neutralizing” our slow Internet and encourage a real high-speed build out. Dig, baby, dig.

[Kessler is a former hedge-fund manager]