Author Archives: George Ford

In Delay there is No Plenty: Economic Impacts of the FCC’s C-Band Plan

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This morning, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is scheduled to be the sole witness at a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee entitled “Oversight of FCC Spectrum Auctions Program.” The Commission has recently completed Auction 103 and Auction 105 (3.5 GHz) is under way, but with committee chairman Senator John Kennedy’s long-standing interest in the C-Band, this hearing likely will focus on the upcoming auction of approximately 280 MHz of this prime mid-band spectrum for commercial mobile broadband use that was formerly reserved for satellite communications. Senator Kennedy has been wary of Chairman Pai’s carefully structured decision that balances Continue Reading »

Welcoming Private Sector Efforts to Increase Broadband Adoption…

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According to U.S. Census data, in 2017 about 78% of Americans accessed the Internet at home over a fixed, terrestrial connection.  Like most goods and services, adoption rises sharply with income.  Only about 60% of households with annual incomes less than $30,000 have fixed broadband at home compared to 82% of homes with higher incomes.  Overseas, many developing nations have extremely low Internet adoption rates.  While much of our domestic policy discussion focuses on a lack of availability in more rural areas, the lack of adoption is as big a contributor, if not a bigger one, to the Digital Divide.  Continue Reading »

A Preliminary Review of “The User Rights Database: Measuring the Impact of Copyright Balance”…

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Several years ago, Professor Tom Nichols wrote an interesting essay entitled “The Death of Expertise.”  In this essay, he makes a simple yet profound insight: in our increasingly politicized world, there is a growing disregard for serious work done by qualified experts in our public debate.  Accordingly, warns Professor Nichols, “unless we return [expertise] to a healthy role in public policy, we are going to have a stupider less productive arguments every day.” As I have unfortunately had to document on many occasions, nowhere is this “death of expertise” more acute than in copyright policy. The latest example, it appears, Continue Reading »

In Response to Criticisms of Phoenix Center Research on Net Neutrality…

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Quantifying the effect on economic outcomes of the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) regulations is vital for good policymaking.  Recently, the Commission initiated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in which it is contemplating rolling back the Obama Administration’s controversial 2015 decision to reclassify broadband Internet access as a common carrier “telecommunications” service under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.  To aid the Agency with its review of its 2015 Open Internet Order, I  authored a number of empirical studies examining the effect of Net Neutrality regulation on investment, employment, and broadband speeds, including both original research and commentary on Continue Reading »

Economics Makes a Welcome Return in the Forthcoming BDS Order…

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As part of his efforts to increase transparency at the Federal Communications Commission, Chairman Ajit Pai recently posted a draft order in advance of this week’s April Open Meeting which purports largely to deregulate Business Data Services (“BDS”)—also known as Special Access services—in areas where incumbent providers face competition.  While Chairman Pai’s predecessor, Tom Wheeler, sought to substantially expand the regulation of BDS, his efforts were frustrated by a record (including his own outside peer review) that did not support his penchant for aggressive regulatory action.  Rather than fight economic theory and the available evidence, the Draft Order reveals that Continue Reading »

Municipal Broadband and Predatory Pricing…

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In the wake of the Federal Communication Commission’s pre-emption of state laws overseeing municipal broadband networks in North Carolina and Tennessee, I was asked by the State Government Leadership Foundation (SGLF)—a non-profit organization that helps state governments develop sound policy through education, research, and training—to conduct an economic analysis of municipal broadband to help state legislators better understand the issue.  Last month, the SGLF released the final product of my effort.  The paper is both long (nearly 70 pages) and dense, using economic theory to describe what municipal broadband is and what it is not.  I don’t wish to cover Continue Reading »

The FCC’s Intellectual and Empirical Vacuum Over Market Power for Special Access Services

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It’s been over eighty years since the Communications Act of 1934 created the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) for the purpose of overseeing the nation’s communications industries.  Still, as revealed most recently in the Commission’s Tariff Investigation Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Special Access Services (hereinafter “BDS Further Notice”) the Agency has no idea how to define or measure market power in telecommunications markets.  In fact, its BDS Further Notice offers no apparent definition of market power, which is a significant deficiency for a regulatory regime allegedly based on the presence of market power. There are some hints Continue Reading »

Some Preliminary Thoughts On Dr. Rysman’s Special Access Empirical Analysis…

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As part of the Federal Communication Commission’s Tariff Investigation Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Special Access Services, the Agency included as Appendix B a commissioned empirical study by Dr. Marc Rysman of Boston University.  While there’s a lot to say about Dr. Rysman’s analysis, because it just came out two days ago I want to take the time to make sure I fully understand Dr. Rysman’s technique and modeling choices before passing judgement.  That said, while I won’t provide a thorough analysis of Dr. Rysman’s econometric analysis in this blog, there are some glaring items that are Continue Reading »

Special Access and the FCC’s Regulatory Revival…

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There is a Chinese proverb, though some call it a curse, which says “May you live in interesting times.” For those involved in telecommunications policy over the last few decades, I think it’s safe to say we are now living in interesting times. Since before and certainly after the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the communications industry has undergone a competitive and deregulatory revolution. Twenty years ago the cross-entry of phone companies into video markets and video companies into phone markets was a running joke, but no longer. It’s a reality. Video regulation, which was a disaster even under monopoly conditions, has Continue Reading »

Tariffing the Internet: A Response to Harold Feld (Part Deux)…

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On October 2, 2014, Harold Feld of Public Knowledge defiantly declared that net neutrality was not about a “terminating service” provided by broadband providers to edge providers, but rather it’s about the regulation of retail broadband service.  His position on this matter was unequivocal and characteristically bumptious.  Harold’s blog was, in part, a response to my paper, Tariffing Internet Termination:  Pricing Implications of Classifying Broadband as a Title II Telecommunications Service, in which Larry Spiwak and I detailed why the termination market was the relevant market for net neutrality regulation (see Larry’s summary here).  Ignoring the plain text of the Continue Reading »