This blog post is part of a series on communications policies Public Knowledge recommends in response to the pandemic. You can read more of our proposals here and view the full series here. Medical experts agree that the most important thing we can do to support the efforts against the COVID-19 outbreak is a medical […]

PK In The Know Podcast: Charter/Time Warner Cable Merger and Blizzard World of Warcraft Lawsuit

PK In The Know Podcast: Broadband Access and the Lifeline Program

PK In The Know Podcast: Net Neutrality, Expanding Wifi, and 3D Printed Left Shark

The average South Korean can choose between three major private internet providers –SKT, KT and LG U+ – and pay less than $30 a month for the fastest internet in the world. That’s $17 less than what the average American pays for a much slower internet hookup. But why? How is it possible that the citizens of the last developed democracy have a faster and more affordable internet than Americans? The simple answer to this question is that in the 1990s South Koreans decided that their country needed a fast and affordable internet provided by a vibrant private sector, and there was the political willingness, and a national plan, to achieve that goal.

For nearly all Americans, broadband is an indispensable service that makes it possible for them to communicate, transact commerce, and participate in civic life. In fact, broadband is so critical that last month Senator Thune, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and a bipartisan group of 60 senators, called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) to ensure that rural Americans have access to high-speed broadband.

You may be forgiven if, given all the attention given to the FCC’s decision to classify broadband as “telecommunications” under Title II of the Communications Act, you missed that the FCC was also considering another “reclassification,” of a sort. Specifically, the FCC is considering allowing online services to operate as “multichannel video programming distributors,” an action that could benefit consumers and competition by opening up the video marketplace to new entrants, and paving the way for online services to offer the same kinds of channels that are available today only through traditional pay-TV services like cable and satellite. Yesterday, Public Knowledge filed comments supporting the FCC’s proposed action, which could increase consumer choice while bringing down prices without subjecting most kinds of online video services to additional regulation.

NCTA Tells FCC One Thing and Consumers Another About Highspeed Internet

For all us telecom geeks out there, the big deal was the President’s rather brief shout out on network neutrality and municipal broadband (munibroadband). You can see the full text of the speech here. The key paragraph was almost literally a blink and you miss it:

On December 11th, the Federal Communications Commission voted to move forward with much needed and long awaited reforms to our nation’s E-rate program. With a 3-2 vote, Democratic Commissioners moved forward on a process that allocates $1 billion annually for expanded Wi-Fi connections in our schools and libraries.