Because every American
should have access
to broadband Internet.

The Internet Innovation Alliance is a broad-based coalition of business and non-profit organizations that aim to ensure every American, regardless of race, income or geography, has access to the critical tool that is broadband Internet. The IIA seeks to promote public policies that support equal opportunity for universal broadband availability and adoption so that everyone, everywhere can seize the benefits of the Internet - from education to health care, employment to community building, civic engagement and beyond.

The Podium

Blog posts tagged with 'Michael Powell'

Monday, December 06

IIA Broadband Symposium: The View From Wall Street

By Brad

If you missed our Broadband Symposium this morning, here’s full video of the discussion.

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Friday, August 20

The Internet and the Role of Government

By Brad

Yesterday, former FCC Chairman Michael Powell discussed the net neutrality debate on Fox Business Channel. Check it out:

Tuesday, March 30

Against Title II

By Brad

Multichannel News sat down with former FCC Chairman Michael Powell to talk about the National Broadband Plan.

On the whole, Powell believes the plan is a great step toward connecting everyone in America to broadband. But when it comes to the idea of reclassifying the Internet as a Title II service, the former Chairman doesn’t mince words:

MultiChannel News: What do you think about the FCC possibly classifying Internet service as a Title II service subject to mandatory access?

Michael Powell: I think that idea is an unadulterated disaster.

MCN: Not a surprise, since yours was the commission that defined it as an information service subject to lighter regulations.

MP: Not entirely. Part of that decision was during my commission, part of that was during Kevin Martin’s tenure [Powell’s successor as chairman]. I see so many misrepresentations of historical fact that it is worth noting here that broadband has never been classified as Title II. You will get people who will say: “We’re going back to something.” No, we never had that something. Cable is the leading broadband provider in the United States and it has never been a Title II and never been a common carrier. … The only thing that was ever Title II was the old dial-up telephone service, more because of historical accident than policy forethought.

So, broadband itself has never been Title II. In fact, all the investment that has been deployed in the United States has been on the assumption that it is a lightly regulated information service. If the commission wants to recklessly change and try to fight the battle to reclassify that, we will be in a period of painful, prolonged uncertainty, confusion and war for probably four to six years with an undoubted trip to the Supreme Court interspersed between.

And for a country that says it wants to dramatically up the amount of private investment going on in broadband, that would seem like a very backward way to do it.

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