Revisiting the Impact of Killing Net Neutrality

Ajit Pai recently wrote an article in the National Review where he talks about how his decision as head of the Federal Communications Commission to repeal net neutrality was the right one. He goes on to claim that repealing net neutrality was the driver behind the current boom in building fiber and upgrading other broadband technologies. He contrasts the progress of broadband in the US with Europe and says that the FCC’s action is the primary reason we are seeing a fiber boom in the US. With the possibility of seating a fifth Commissioner, he knows that the issue of reinstating net neutrality and Title II authority is going to be raised at the FCC. Killing net neutrality was his crowning achievement at the FCC, and he’s defending it as a way to lobby against bringing back net neutrality. The big broadband providers will be repeating the same rhetoric being told by Pai. But Pai is not telling the real story. Industry insiders and experts didn’t expect much change to come from repealing net neutrality. The CEOs of all of the big cable companies admitted that keeping or killing net neutrality would have almost no impact on their businesses. The real purpose of killing net neutrality was to kill Title II authority over broadband. The Ajit Pai FCC gave up all rights of the agency to regulate broadband. That was the number one agenda item for Ajit Pai, and he handed the big providers everything on their wish list. None of the fiber boom is due to killing regulation. All that killing regulation did was allow big providers to run roughshod over customers without consequences. The FCC can’t even pull broadband providers in to talk about their bad broadband behavior. Ajit Pai’s accomplishment was not killing net neutrality – it was handing the reins of the broadband business to the big providers by allowing the ultimate regulatory capture of having the FCC walk away from its regulatory responsibilities.