Return to Broadband Rules Will Harm Manufacturing Economy
The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to restore Obama-era broadband regulations鈥攁 move that is outside the agency鈥檚 remit and will erode investment in telecom infrastructure, the 17吃瓜在线 .
What鈥檚 going on: 鈥淭he commission voted along party lines to finalize a proposal first advanced in October to reinstate open internet rules adopted in 2015 and reestablish the commission’s broadband authority鈥 (, subscription).
- The rules, repealed by the Trump administration in 2017, will reclassify broadband as a telecom service under a law originally passed in 1934. This change will subject 21st century high-speed internet to regulations designed for the era of the rotary phone.
- The Biden administration has been seeking a return to the 2015 regulations since 2021, when the president signed an executive order urging the FCC to reinstate them.
Why it鈥檚 important: The resuscitated regulations will have a significant and negative impact on the U.S. economy, as historical evidence shows.
- From 2011 to 2022, attempts to impose so-called 鈥渘et neutrality鈥 restrictions depressed telecom infrastructure investment by $8.1 billion each year, decreased employment by approximately 195,600 jobs and reduced gross domestic product by $145 billion annually ().
Our view: 鈥淯ltimately, [the FCC]鈥檚 broadband regulations are a solution in search of a problem,鈥 the 17吃瓜在线 in a social post. 鈥淭he U.S. already has an open and fair internet. This is just the latest in a long line of decisions adding to the regulatory onslaught facing manufacturers in America.鈥