Tate at Accenture Global Convergence Forum 2006

REMARKS OF COMMISSIONER TATE AT ACCENTURE GLOBAL CONVERGENCE FORUM 2006
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
I join my colleague, Chairman Martin, in working to remove - to the greatest extent possible - unnecessary regulatory burdens. Legacy economic regulations often make no sense in this digital world and may serve to impede broadband deployment. You may have heard me say that I believe in regulatory humility. The government needs to be a referee in the communications industry, making sure that everyone plays by fair and consistent rules; it should not be a coach, telling everyone how to play the game. A light regulatory touch promotes investment and encourages competition, and competition is what drives you and industry to create the next great invention or service and keeps those inventions affordable for consumers. Regulation needs to ensure that competition is fair and not favor one technology over another; but it also needs to let companies take into account their own business plans and the economic realities they face and then let them go to work! Our end game should be to put in place a regulatory framework that creates opportunities for the private sector to invest; so innovators can innovate. In his State of the Union address, President Bush announced the "American Competitiveness Initiative." The FCC will play an important role in that initiative by creating an environment that encourages and supports innovation. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently found that the FCC Triennial Review Order loosening regulation resulted in more than $6 billion in investment by Verizon and $5 billion in investment by AT&T. I hope that I can help make every FCC decision a catalyst for investment. The outcome in a competitive market is certainly not predictable, and it is not always pretty. Sometimes companies fail. Sometimes companies have faulty business plans. But in the end, I believe that creating an environment where private investors can compete is the best way to develop a vibrant ICT sector and to bring vital services to consumers. As we heard today, consumers are the new innovators and forcing all of us to rethink core strategies.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-265423A1.doc