Competition/Antitrust

Some observers note a decline in competition in American industry; fewer new firms are entering the market, and markets are becoming more concentrated. Federal and state agencies can devise regulations to catalyze competition. Federal and state agencies can use different types of rules to spur competition, including deregulation, which removes rules that discourage new firms, or switching price rules, which makes it easier for consumers to try a new service provider (such as the rule that phone customers can keep their phone number when changing service providers).

The rate of US broadband subscriber growth continued to slow in Q1 2018, according to a new analysis from Leichtman Research Group. The nation’s top cable operators and telecommunication companies, representing about 95% of the market, added roughly 800,000 net broadband subs in the period, down from 965,000 net adds in the year-ago quarter, LRG said.

[Commentary] How can Republicans get right with network neutrality?

Step One: Know your history: At its heart, net neutrality is a competition issue. From Roosevelt to Reagan, we are the party of competition and should never cede that ground. Net neutrality principles and free trade principles are based on the exact same market theory. 

Step Two: Stream Ahead: Americans love streaming and reject cable.

Delaware is a national leader in broadband adoption and speed. However, the state is not resting on its laurels, and the chief information officer has a plan to bring broadband connectivity to rural areas using high-speed wireless technologies. “My hope is in the next 24 months, we’re going to eradicate this rural broadband issue,” said James Collins, state chief information officer. “We’ve made a conscious decision that we don’t think it’s the government’s business to be in competition with the private sector as it relates to broadband and other things,” Collins explained.

As streaming video continues to chip away at cable TV subscriber numbers, Comcast is making some of its Internet speed increases available only to customers that pay for both Internet and video service. The week of April 23, Comcast announced speed increases for customers in Houston (TX) and the Oregon/SW Washington areas.

[Commentary] One phrase that keeps being tossed around: "Facebook should be treated like a utility." The idea is that the use of Facebook has become effectively essential to modern life, and therefore it should be regulated just like water or electricity. Let's get this right: Facebook is not a utility. It is an app. It may be a dominant app. It may even be exercising monopoly power unfairly. But it is not a utility, and muddying the definitional waters this way will only help the real utilities—like Comcast, Spectrum, AT&T, Verizon, and CenturyLink—avoid genuine oversight.

In Europe and the United States, the conventional wisdom is that regulation is needed to force Silicon Valley’s digital giants to respect people’s online privacy. But new rules may instead serve to strengthen Facebook’s and Google’s hegemony and extend their lead on the internet. That’s because wary consumers are more prone to trust recognized names with their information than unfamiliar newcomers.

More than two-thirds of New York City's 3.1 million households have just one or two broadband providers offering service to their homes, according to a new "Truth in Broadband" report issued by the city government. The report comes as NYC pursues a lawsuit against Verizon alleging that it hasn't met its broadband deployment obligations.