Strict regulations stifle competition

For all the fireworks surrounding the debate over Internet regulation, there’s actually more common ground than disagreement.

Everyone agrees that we must keep the Internet open for innovation and free expression. There’s also been a longstanding, bipartisan consensus that any rules must preserve strong incentives to invest in next- generation networks.

The debate now is what the legal framework for securing those values should be.

Starting with the Clinton administration, leaders of both parties embraced a light- touch regulatory approach, and the Internet flourished. Under this framework, companies like Google and Facebook grew to powerhouses, and America’s Internet economy became the envy of the world.

But in 2015, the Federal Communications Commission chose a dramatically different path. On a party- line vote, it reclassified Internet service providers ( ISPs) as public utilities under a Ma Bell- era legal framework called Title II.

We have already begun to see the harms from that decision. From 2014 to 2016, broad- band infrastructure investment dropped — the first decline ever outside of a recession. The decision is also stifling competition. Title II rules squeeze smaller ISPs that could challenge incumbents. Nearly two dozen small ISPs recently told the FCC that the Title II rules “hang like a black cloud” over their businesses.

Three weeks ago, I proposed to reverse the Title II decision and seek public input on how to secure the open Internet that we all favor.

I enter this process with an open mind and will go where the facts lead me. But as we move forward, it’s important to call out two false choices that have plagued this debate.

First, this is not a choice between Title II regulation or a Wild West in which ISPs can do whatever they please. There are other, proven paths to an open Internet ( like the Clinton- era approach) that are more market- friendly.

Second, we aren’t choosing between Internet openness or network investment. Our policies need to promote both.

I look forward to engaging with the public to resolve this issue and deliver digital opportunity for all Americans.