NetCompetition Statement & Comments on FCC Open Internet Order Remand

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           

July 11, 2014

Contact:  Scott Cleland 703-217-2407

Broadband Reclassification is a Problem Pretending to be a Solution; & Un-supported by the Facts, Unjustified on the Merits, & Unwise Given FCC’s Record of Title II Failures

Networks Aren’t Free; Businesses Pay for Electricity, Water, Gas, Transport & Delivery

FCC Zero Pricing is Corporate Welfare for Big Internet Companies Paid by Consumers

WASHINGTON D.C. – The following quotes are based on NetCompetition’s submitted comments on the FCC’s Open Internet Order Remand and may be attributed to Scott Cleland, Chairman of NetCompetition:

• “FCC reclassification of broadband as a Title II utility service is a problem pretending to be a solution and it is also un-supported by the facts, unjustified on the merits, and unwise given the FCC’s record of Title II failures.”
• “Make no mistake, the rub here is simple. The crux of this latest round of the Net neutrality debate is all about whether the FCC imposes a permanent price of zero for all Internet downstream traffic -- regardless of volume when Netflix/YouTube alone comprise over half of all downstream traffic.”  
• “Despite the misleading rhetoric, this debate is about high-traffic-volume business pricing for Big Internet companies like Netflix, Google-YouTube, Facebook and Amazon.”   
• “FCC-mandated zero-pricing for Big Internet delivery would be corporate welfare. Commercial use of networks or utilities is not free. Businesses routinely pay for electricity, water, and gas. Businesses routinely pay for transport by plane, train, subway, bus, and car, or for delivery by the Post Office, UPS, Fed-Ex, and other delivery services. And businesses’ trailer-trucks pay much more in fees and taxes than consumers/cars pay because they cause much more costs for the highway system. So how come delivery of the vast majority of downstream Internet traffic coming from several of the biggest Internet companies should transported and delivered for free?”
• “When someone misdirects and claims entrepreneurs need FCC-mandated, zero-pricing subsidies, ask them where in the government or economy do entrepreneurs get subsidized electricity, water, gas, travel, transport, or delivery services?”    

Click here for NetCompetition’s submitted comments on the FCC’s Open Internet Order Remand.

NETCompetition.org is a pro-competition e-forum representing broadband interests.  See www.netcompetition.org.