Trump Telecom Advisor Doesn't Think Telecom Monopolies Are Real We've noted for a while now how as telcos give up on upgrading DSL customers they don't want, the cable industry is securing a bigger broadband monopoly than ever before across huge swaths of the United States. With less serious competition from telcos, these cable companies have less incentive than ever before to improve woeful customer service, or offer less expensive broadband service. They also face less or an organic market deterrent when it comes to expanding the implementation of unnecessary usage caps (read: glorified rate hikes that also hinder streaming video competitors).

That's why it's particularly interesting to hear that one of Trump's top telecom advisors doesn't actually believe that telecom monopolies are a real thing Former Sprint lobbyist Mark Jamison was named this week as one of two telecom consultants guiding the Trump administration's telecom policy. Alongside telecom-tied think tanker Jeffrey Eisenach, Jamison is tasked with choosing the next FCC boss, and the direction of the new Trump FCC. But in an October blog post, Jamison indicates he doesn't believe that telecom monopolies are even real, while making it very clear (as Eisenach has) that the over-arching goal is to gut the FCC completely: quote: Most of the original motivations for having an FCC have gone away. Telecommunications network providers and ISPs are rarely, if ever, monopolies . If there are instances where there are monopolies, it would seem overkill to have an entire federal agency dedicated to ex ante regulation of their services. A well-functioning Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in conjunction with state authorities, can handle consumer protection and anticompetitive conduct issues." But they haven't gone away; as noted above they're actually getting stronger, and will be working tirelessly to use this power to hamstring streaming video competitors. Eliminating one of the only agencies that has actually been standing up to these incumbent ISPs won't make this problem magically go away, and will likely make matters worse. The FTC, already stretched thin, historically hasn't done a particularly thorough job of protecting broadband consumers -- which is precisely why you'll usually hear ISPs recommend that all oversight be placed in their already-crowded lap. They know full well most of this work will fall through the cracks. But they haven't gone away; as noted above they're actually getting stronger, and will be working tirelessly to use this power to hamstring streaming video competitors. Eliminating one of the only agencies that has actually been standing up to these incumbent ISPs won't make this problem magically go away, and will likely make matters worse. The FTC, already stretched thin, historically hasn't done a particularly thorough job of protecting broadband consumers -- which is precisely why you'll usually hear ISPs recommend that all oversight be placed in their already-crowded lap. They know full well most of this work will fall through the cracks. Jamison seems to think that in an ideal world, the FCC would have no oversight of consumer broadband issues whatsoever, and many of the agency's responsibilities would be offloaded to the states: quote: "What would we do without an FCC? Any legitimate universal service concerns could be handled by others: States can subsidize network access as they see fit, the Department of Health and Human Services can incorporate telecommunications and internet into its assistance to low-income households, and the FTC and states can handle consumer protection and ex post regulation." That would be the same states, like Missouri, that let AT&T hide broadband competition-killing restrictions in worse. That would be the same states, like Missouri, that let AT&T hide broadband competition-killing restrictions in unrelated traffic laws . That would the same states, like West Virginia, that turn a blind eye while the monopolies Jamison doesn't think exist rip off taxpayers then actively work to hide the evidence. The same states that quite literally let AT&T, Comcast and CenturyLink write awful, protectionist state broadband laws solely focused on protecting geographical monopolies. Handing telecom oversight to the states wouldn't fix the problems facing the broadband sector, it would indisputably make the problem While there's little doubt that the FCC could use reform, that's not what Trump's advisors are recommending. They're making it clear that they, like the incumbent broadband ISPs they pretend not to still advocate for, want to not only eliminate net neutrality, but completely defang the only government agency that stands between consumers and the well-documented, anti-competitive practices of companies like AT&T and Comcast. Once again, putting two telecom sector cronies in charge of telecom policy with an eye on gutting popular, bipartisan policies like net neutrality isn't "draining the swamp" or "populist reform" -- it's the exact opposite. Once again, putting two telecom sector cronies in charge of telecom policy with an eye on gutting popular, bipartisan policies like net neutrality isn't "draining the swamp" or "populist reform" -- it's the exact opposite.







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