Schumer: Broadband is a Utility That May Require Price Caps | DSLReports, ISP Information: Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer uttered some words this week that likely terrified lobbyists and executives for AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. During his floor argument for a Congressional Review Act resolution that would restore net neutrality, Schumer stated that he believes that broadband should be viewed as an essential utility, and that we may need to eventually explore price caps to prevent monopolies from over-charging for services thanks to limited competition.
Schumer's right. And when it's an essential service, the potential for abusive price gouging is enormous.
Democrats and Republicans alike have traditionally avoided price caps on broadband service, in large part because deep-pocketed campaign contributors in the telecom sector have viciously opposed the idea for obvious reasons. Even when former FCC boss Tom Wheeler reclassified ISPs as common carriers under Title II of the Telecom act he was careful to "forbear" from applying rate regulation onto ISPs.
But Schumer appeared to re-open the conversation of price caps on an uncompetitive broadband market during discussions about net neutrality, even though the likelihood of him actually following through with that isn't particularly likely given historical precedent. "You know, people say, well, let a private company do whatever it wants, let them charge whatever they want," Schumer argued. "But in certain goods which are essential we don't do that. Utilities, highways. The same thing now applies to the internet. It's a necessity and we have to have protections for average folks, for small businesses, for working families."
Spot on. It's time to end the delusion that a utility market can be a competitive market. After all, how many electric, water and natural gas companies are competing for customers?
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