ITIF Disagrees with Broadband Direction Laid Out by President Obama

ITIF disagrees with the direction that will be laid out by President Obama. While municipal networks can be a feasible mechanism to bring broadband to unserved areas, they are generally not how policymakers should go about enabling competition in areas already served by broadband....The notion that American businesses are at a competitive disadvantage because of our broadband speeds is totally inaccurate...This announcement, combined with the President’s push towards Title II to regulate broadband providers as public utilities, represents a dramatic reversal in policy that is totally unwarranted by the facts. No doubt there is a sizable populist push for these changes, making the President’s initiative good politics, but bad policy.