Preserving a lighter touch on mobile regulation

[Commentary] There are several key distinctions worth noting about mobile broadband that suggest it would be a mistake to simply take Open Internet rules designed for a wire-based network and dump them on mobile networks:

1. The mobile broadband environment is dynamic.
2. The wireless market is highly competitive, which reduces the need for close Federal Communications Commission oversight to obviate consumer harm.
3. Wireless networks face unique capacity constraints that require providers to engage in more intensive network management practices than their wireline counterparts.

Each of these distinctions suggest the ongoing importance of maintaining a light regulatory touch on wireless networks. Whatever rules the FCC enacts, it should consciously preserve room for pro-consumer innovation. This is especially true in the wireless space, where growing, disparate demand and capacity constraints give rise to the need for greater experimentation, which will ideally find the most efficient way to bring consumers the services they demand while on the move.

[Lyons is an associate professor at Boston College Law School]