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Don't bother NN proponents with the facts on broadband competition...

Submitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2007-02-02 11:24

As expected proponents of net neutrality ignore facts that don't push their anti-business, big government point of view. When the FCC broadband report is replete with powerful evidence that broadband competition and penetration are increasing impressively, NN proponents don't like the message so they shoot the messenger.

Comm Daily today quoted a Public Knowledge spokesperson who said:  the FCC numbers were "invalid" and that he wouldn't even "go there" what trends or developments the group sees in the report because it is "measuring a world that does not comport with reality."

  • Let me suggest it does not comport with their preferred alternate reality.
  • At the Net Caucus conference on Wednesday, the OECD economist responsible for the OECD numbers that Public Knowledge loves to quote in order to show America is falling behind  Europe, praised the FCC broadband data as the best and most comprehensive in the OECD!

Moroever, it is interesting that the beloved Europe that Net neutrality proponents would like America to be more like -- appears to be having some broadband competition problems. 

  • In a report in Australian IT, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association found that broadband growth has slowed substantially from 23% to 7% and that DSL has 82% of the european market.
  • Contrast that to the U.S. where the incumbent phone companies have just 36% share of the broadband market with DSL.
  • What this shows is that the US has succeeded in producing real facilities-based competition with cable having 44% share and wireless/other technologies have 20% share.
    • Europe is heavily dependent on resale of incumbent national champions which does not provide much market incentive to invest in broadband innovation.

I trust fair-minded people can see through net neutrality proponents "shoot the messenger" tactics.

  • No public data is ever perfect, but the FCC data is better than any in the OECD, so it would make sense for congressional policymakers to not ignore it.   
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