Tech Policy Recommendations for the Next Administration

High-speed internet access is crucial for economic opportunity and social participation. However, broadband policies have not kept pace with dramatic changes in technology and markets. The administration should: 

• Adopt Technology-Neutral Policies: Adopt technology-neutral policies that recognize that costs vary by technology and context, moving beyond outdated concepts of "high-cost areas."
• Consider Competition Holistically: Evaluate market competition across all available broadband technologies including fiber, cable, fixed wireless, 5G, and satellite services, rather than focusing on individual technologies in isolation.
• Promote Market Competition Over Price Regulation: Rely on market competition to discipline prices rather than implementing direct price controls. Address affordability challenges through targeted low-income support programs rather than broad price regulation that can discourage investment and innovation.
• Set Subsidies on Demand and Cost: Set explicit per-location funding limits considering consumer demand, deployment speed, and alternative technologies like LEO satellites.
• Restore Program Focus: Return broadband programs to their core mission of expanding connectivity. Recent programs have added numerous unrelated requirements that increase costs and complexity while reducing effectiveness.
• Reform Low-Income Support: Provide technology-neutral vouchers while preventing providers from identifying recipients to avoid price discrimination.
• Modernize Spectrum Allocation: Develop new market-based mechanisms to determine use patterns (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, shared, etc.) based on revealed valuations rather than technical claims and lobbying. Ensure all users, including government agencies, face opportunity costs of spectrum use.
• Require Rigorous Evaluation: Build evaluation into every program focused on measuring outcomes achieved relative to costs, not just compliance.