Free Press: Clyburn Is Right -- Competition Is Key to Broadband Adoption, Lower Prices

Today, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn issued a statement urging the
Federal Communications Commission to examine competition in the
broadband market.

Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott made the following statement:

"We applaud Commissioner Clyburn for tackling the issue of
competition in the broadband market head-on. For too long, the FCC has
avoided confronting the competition problem, leaving American consumers
and business at the mercy of the phone and cable companies. The
practical consequences of the lack of meaningful competition in our
broadband market is less investment and innovation, lower adoption, and
millions of dollars in lost consumer surplus. Our competition failures
are why America continues to lag our global counterparts in every
measure of broadband success, and they are what drove Congress to ask
the FCC for a National Broadband Plan.

"Congress wants a plan for universal, affordable and robust
broadband, and a meaningful competition policy is the key to achieving
those goals. With the National Broadband Plan due to roll out in a
week, competition policy that addresses soaring broadband rates and
spurs adoption must be the top priority. Our goals cannot be met with
hope that wireless broadband might someday discipline prices, nor will
they be met by self-serving programs like the cable industry's proposed
'A-plus' adoption initiative. We hope that the FCC follows Commissioner
Clyburn's lead and confronts these issues directly. American consumers
need the market to work for them, not against them."

Read Commissioner Clyburn's statement here:
https://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-296790A1.pdf