Is There "Enough" Broadband Competition? And How High Is Up?

IS THERE "ENOUGH" BROADBAND COMPETITION? AND HOW HIGH IS UP?
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge 2/5, AUTHOR: Harold Feld, media Access Project]
[Commentary] Last week, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau released the latest round of metrics on broadband deployment in the U.S. Called “High-Speed Services for Internet Access: Status as of June 30, 2006,” the 23-page report assures us that just about every zip code has access to multiple “high speed” Internet services (defined as 200 Kbps in one direction) and that many zip codes even multiple providers of “advanced services lines,” which provide an astounding 200 kbps in BOTH directions! Unsurprisingly, this has kicked off the usual argument about whether we have “enough” competition so that we don't need net neutrality or any other rules to keep the Internet open. Allow me to suggest a different approach. Asking if we have “enough” competition is a rather meaningless question. Like so many things “competition” is a rather flexible concept, and focusing on whether there is “enough” competition is about as useful as asking “how high is up.” The real questions, from a policy perspective, are two-fold. 1) What do we need to do to get cheap, fast broadband for everyone? 2) What do we need to do to make sure the Internet stays as open, free, and productive at the edges as possible?
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/813