Deja Vu All Over Again!

It seems as if the net neutrality proponents are at it again.  This time, they are targeting the forthcoming availability of the 700MHz band as a new venue to impose needless regulation on fledgling technologies.  As I have said many times before, “net neutrality” is a solution in search of problem.  This clever marketing scheme initially proposed new government “openness” regulations on the Internet and now is attempting to stifle growth in the wireless industry.  For the past decade, the wireless industry has been one of, if not the most, competitive sectors in the telecommunications industry, and now as they seek to grow their services by offering a wireless broadband network that would specifically aid rural America they are being hamstrung by opportunistic groups seeking to translate their rhetoric into government overregulation.

In order to keep America competitive in the global economy we must provide an environment free from government red-tape to allow new technologies to flourish.  Specifically, for northwest Ohio, telecommunications advancements could open up an entirely new market for our manufacturers who are already facing an uphill battle against overseas competitors.  If allowed to continue down the current path, net neutrality proponents will forever drive the telecommunications agenda into the ground and only further delay the proceedings on positive, pro-growth telecommunications legislation.  Innovation is not built through regulation and our country can not afford to fall further behind the broadband curve.  Net neutrality is not sound public policy, and it should be dismissed simply as a clever marketing strategy run amuck.