The New York Times Editorial Board recently posted an opinion piece that concluded that a fix to the wireless market should include a declaration by the Federal Communications Commission that broadband access services are telecommunications services.
The Times should know better.
Unless the Times enjoys seeing flare ups between the legislative branch and the administrative branch, or would like to see the judiciary repeat again and again that the FCC should not go around trying to circumvent the Congress, then advising the FCC to take this route is a waste of time.
Congress has reiterated its intent that the FCC and federal law keep as light a touch as possible on the Internet. Congress would have to change law in order to bring broadband further into the clutches of the FCC.
What’s more disturbing is that the Times believes that a competitive wireless market would result from declaring broadband a telecommunications service. Following that logic, that would mean making wireless a more regulated service as well.
If the Times believes that consumer welfare is best enhanced by a robust, competitive wireless market, that’s fine. You will nary find disagreement with that position. At this point, however, the issue isn’t competition. The issue is quality of service.
Spectrum is limited. Increasing quality of service, particularly in the face of increasing demand for mobile data services, requires an expansion of scale on the part of existing carriers. This expansion of scale helps ensure against dropped calls, poor voice quality, and maintenance of data transfer speeds.
Opening up another jurisdictional battle over declaring broadband to be a telecommunications service won’t make the wireless market more competitive.