Susan Crawford blasts deregulation of telecom

A former adviser to President Obama blasted the deregulation of the telecommunications industry and said officials have lost sight of the nation’s “collective responsibility” to provide Internet access to all.

Susan Crawford, who assisted the Obama Administration's transition at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said she has been "radicalized" by her brush with the deregulatory culture in Washington. "Individualism and selfishness drive us to deregulate the entire telecommunications sector," she told attendees at the Freedom to Connect conference, "without regard to how it would end up for our children. "It's like giving up clean water … or interstate highways," she said. "Where is the social contract?” Crawford said deregulation and the telecom industry’s decision to abandon the nationwide copper phone network are contributing to the demise of universal service — the idea that all people should have access to a telephone.