FCC's Pai: Neutrality Has Killed Broadband Sector Investment Before the FCC passed new net neutrality rules, the broadband industry's biggest players repeatedly claimed that Title II and neutrality would simply crush broadband sector investment. Several months on and broadband investment by and large seems as healthy as ever, with Comcast announcing a nationwide two gigabit fiber deployment, Google Fiber continuing to push into new markets, and an endless series of municipal, smaller cable ops and even wireless companies announcing new gigabit projects (small and large) by the day.

Still, former Verizon regulatory lawyer turned FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai continues to insist that broadband sector investment has frozen thanks to the FCC's new rules. Pai points to a 12% decline in capital expenditures by the major wireless carriers in the first half of 2015 as evidence that net neutrality has killed the Internets: quote: "In my statement dissenting from the commission’s Title II decision, I warned that '[b]roadband networks don’t have to be built; capital doesn’t have to be invested here,'" Pai said. "'Risks don’t have to be taken. The more difficult the FCC makes the business case for deployment — and micromanaging everything from interconnection to service plans makes it difficult indeed — the less likely it is that broadband providers big and small will connect Americans with digital opportunities.' And that, I fear, is what we are now witnessing." Pai doesn't cite the source of his stats, but it looks like it's wired network investment decline. And those CAPEX reductions can be attributed to AT&T and Verizon freezing their wireline network investments as they hang up on unwanted DSL customers, something which was already happening well before the FCC's Title II push, and has nothing to do with net neutrality .But by and large broadband ISPs are carrying on much like they did before the rules were passed. The alternate theory is that Pai's right and some basic net neutrality rules many ISPs have Pai doesn't cite the source of his stats, but it looks like it's Hal Singer , an inconsistent ISP industry think tanker who was specifically referring tonetwork investment decline. And those CAPEX reductions can be attributed to AT&T and Verizon freezing their wireline network investments as they hang up on unwanted DSL customers, something which was already happening well before the FCC's Title II push, and has.But by and large broadband ISPs are carrying on much like they did before the rules were passed. The alternate theory is that Pai's right and some basic net neutrality rules many ISPs have no problem with have destroyed the Internet, and only Pai has apparently noticed.







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