Mr. Wheeler Agrees: It’s The “Termination Market”

[Commentary] Apparently, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler intends to divide the two-sided broadband market into its components -- a retail and a termination service -- and then reclassify the termination service as a Title II common carrier telecommunications service but leave retail services as a mostly unregulated Title I information service. What I like about the announcement is that the Chairman has finally put an end to debates about the relevant transaction of interest. With Chairman Wheeler now formally talking about carving out the “termination market”, he has settled the matter. A Section 706 approach to the termination market faces few if any hurdles.