Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Gigi Sohn

In Support of Maryland Net Neutrality Act

benton — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 18:07:50 +0000

Chairman Davis, Vice Chair Dumais, members of the Committee, my name is Gigi Sohn and I am a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy and a Senior Fellow with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society. I have been a public interest advocate for open, affordable and accessible communications networks for over 30 years. I was Counselor to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from 2013-2016, and during that time, I helped the FCC adopt the 2015 Open Internet Order, which included the strongest ever network neutrality rules. The FCC voted to adopt the Order 5 years ago today. It was unquestionably the proudest moment of my career. Unfortunately, less than three years later, the Trump FCC repealed the 2015 Open Internet Order, leaving all Americans unprotected from anti-consumer and anticompetitive practices of broadband Internet access service (BIAS) providers. And that is why we are here today. House Bill 957 would reinstate the 2015 Open Internet Order and provide net neutrality protections to anyone who uses the Internet in Maryland. I support the bill and urge this Committee and the House of Delegates to do pass it without delay.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/support-maryland-net-neutrality-act

Teaser:

Testimony before Maryland House of Delegates Economic Matters Committee

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Gigi Sohn

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Thu, 02/27/2020

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Daily Digest 2/26/2020

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Wed, 02/26/2020

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Speech

Internet/Broadband

Network Neutrality

Digital Equity and Broadband Adoption

benton — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:36:30 +0000

Current research suggests that low-income people can only afford to pay about $10 monthly for broadband. Anything more competes with other utility bills and the cost of food. Meeting the goal of universal connectivity and providing fixed broadband at about $10 per month requires a multi-pronged strategy - what my Benton colleague Jonathan Sallet calls an “Affordability Agenda.” It includes:

Price Transparency: Carriers should be required to submit non-promotional pricing information including equipment and other fees to the FCC, which should make that information public. The FCC or Congress should also restore the Fixed Broadband Consumer Disclosure Label. Both will help consumers make informed choices about the price, quality, and value of their broadband service.
More Competition: More competition means lower broadband prices. Even under the FCC’s overly optimistic data, nearly 30% of the country has access to no more than 2 providers at 25/3 speeds, and 95% has access to no more than 2 at speeds of 100/10. Congress should prohibit states from blocking communities that wish to build their own broadband networks and also give a bidding preference to “open access networks” when allocating deployment subsidies. These networks allow any broadband provider to provide last-mile service. An open-access network in Utah gives residents of 15 cities a choice of 10 ISPs. Most Americans can’t fathom that.
A Strong Lifeline Program: Congress should strengthen Lifeline and make it easier for the most vulnerable in society to access the program. It should make clear that Lifeline can support broadband service; restore the Lifeline Broadband Provider designation to bring new competition to the program; and give USAC the resources it needs to expedite the hard launch of the National Eligibility Verifier, which will make eligibility determinations automatic for many applicants. Policymakers should also consider providing an additional subsidy so Lifeline recipients can purchase fixed broadband. The $9.25 subsidy doesn’t go very far for the broadband needed to do research papers, apply for jobs and access telehealth services.
Low-Cost Broadband for Federally Subsidized Networks. The FCC disburses billions of dollars annually to mobile and fixed providers to build out their networks. It should require those carriers to provide a $10 a month high-speed broadband plan to low-income Americans.
Support for Access “To and Through” Community Anchor Institutions
Finally, Congress and the FCC should assist local communities’ digital inclusion efforts.

[Gigi B. Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate]

Benton Content:

https://www.benton.org/blog/digital-equity-and-broadband-adoption

Teaser:

Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Thu, 01/30/2020

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Daily Digest 1/29/2020

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Wed, 01/29/2020

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Affordability/Cost/Price

Universal Broadband

Moving backwards: consolidation, deregulation & lack of accountability in the US media and broadband industries

benton — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 17:36:21 +0000

The US broadband and media industries are increasingly becoming consolidated, deregulated and freed of accountability, with little attention either from policymakers or the media. While Mexico is moving forward -- having recently developed new institutions and regulations intended to promote competition and accountability in telecommunications and media, the US is moving backwards. Competition in broadband and media in the US is vanishing as a result of decisions, big and small, by the Trump Administration.

[Gigi B. Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/moving-backwards-consolidation-deregulation-lack-acc…

Teaser:

Consolidation and deregulation with little attention

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Wed, 09/25/2019

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/24/2019

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Tue, 09/24/2019

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Speech

Internet/Broadband

Regulatory classification

Ownership

Network Neutrality

Nothing is Normal About the T-Mobile-Sprint Merger Review

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 16:43:02 +0000

Private sector development:

Sprint|T-Mobile

Last week, ten state attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint in a federal district court in New York. While it might not seem unusual for state officials tasked with enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws to seek to halt the 4-to-3 horizontal merger of two of the nation’s mobile wireless companies, that the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice did not join the lawsuit was extraordinary. Also, in April, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that he was supporting the merger subject to a handful of behavioral conditions, almost identical in nature to those strongly opposed by Pai in previous years. What made this announcement even more suspicious was the fact that there was no concurrent announcement by the Justice Department that it, too, was approving the transaction. For the FCC to “go it alone” was unprecedented.

Why did Chairman Pai get so far ahead of his colleague Makan Delrahim, who leads the DOJ's Antitrust Division? Many observers believe it was to put political pressure on Delrahim to approve the deal, against the reported wishes of the career staff of the Antitrust Division. In addition, Fox Business has reported that senior White House officials have also voiced their support for the merger, though it is unclear whether they have spoken directly to Delrahim. While the states and the FCC moving forward without the Justice Department was exceptional, political pressure from the White House and others in the Administration is not. The merger of T-Mobile and Sprint threatens to significantly lessen competition. Delrahim and the Justice Department should join the states’ effort to block it.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/nothing-normal-about-t-mobile-sprint-merger-review

Teaser:

While it might not seem unusual for state officials tasked with enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws to seek to halt the 4-to-3 horizontal merger of two of the nation’s mobile wireless companies, that the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice did not join the lawsuit was extraordinary.

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Wed, 06/19/2019

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/18/2019

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Tue, 06/18/2019

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Ownership

Cities (and States) are Doing it for Themselves

benton — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 17:16:12 +0000

No matter who you voted for or what party you belong to, I think we can agree on one thing - access to high-speed broadband is one of the most important issues in the US today. In Congressional race after Congressional race, in Maine, Vermont, Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, Colorado, Michigan, and New Mexico, just to name a few, voters said that broadband access was a top three issue, sometimes coming after health care and jobs, and other times, like in Vermont, coming in as the number one concern for voters. There’s a strong consensus that one must be connected to broadband in order to participate fully in our society, our economy and our culture. But while the Trump Administration and Congress addressed health care and jobs in its first two years, it has done little to ensure that every American is connected to high-speed broadband Internet. I have no doubt that the most important work to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable, high speed broadband is happening in local communities like Chicopee and Taunton, Massachusetts, Longmont Colorado, Imperial County California, Fairlawn Ohio and Kent County Maryland.

[Gigi B. Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/cities-and-states-are-doing-it-themselves

Teaser:

The American people owe a debt of gratitude to the communities and states that are working to ensure universal and affordable access to an open broadband Internet

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Tue, 11/13/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 11/9/2018

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Fri, 11/09/2018

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Bending the Arc Towards Media and Social Justice

benton — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 17:50:33 +0000

I’ve spent just over 30 years working to ensure that all Americans benefit from accessible, affordable, and open communications networks that promote democratic values. But none of that would have been possible without Everett Parker’s accomplishments. As this audience knows well, Everett worked hand-in-hand with the Rev. Martin Luther King and the civil rights community to challenge the broadcast license of WLBT-TV, a Jackson, Mississippi, station that broadcast racist propaganda and refused to cover the civil rights movement. That successful challenge led to a DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision giving citizens the right to challenge broadcast licenses, which, in turn, resulted in ordinary Americans having the right to participate in all measure of FCC proceedings. The influence of this 1966 decision, UCC v. FCC, went even further. When I went to work at the Ford Foundation, I spent several weeks in its dusty basement archives looking through the history of the foundation’s involvement in funding communications law and policy advocacy. While there, I found a note from then-Chief Judge of the DC Circuit, Warren Burger, who wrote the UCC decision and who later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The note, with the UCC decision attached, was sent to new Ford Foundation President McGeorge Bundy, who had previously been National Security Advisor for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. The note was simple and in Burger’s handwriting. It said: “I think this might be of interest to you.” Shortly thereafter, the Ford Foundation became the first major funder of communications law and policy advocacy. Thanks to Everett Parker’s efforts, a new field was created, along with the resources needed to protect the public interest in communications.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/bending-arc-towards%C2%A0media-and-social-justice

Teaser:

On October 11, 2018, the United Church of Christ's media justice ministry awarded Gigi Sohn the Everett C. Parker Award. Here are her prepared remarks for the event.

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Gigi Sohn

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Fri, 10/12/2018

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Daily Digest 10/11/2018

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Thu, 10/11/2018

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Access and Affordability Policy for an Open Internet Ecosystem

benton — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 11:14:48 +0000

Sohn set out recommendations to ensure that the Internet is accessible and affordable and that broadband Internet access service (BIAS) providers and online platforms are transparent about how they conduct their businesses. Affordable access to the Internet is rarely discussed in conversations about Internet openness. An open network is of limited value, however, if significant numbers of people cannot access it for cost or other reasons. In the United States, fully twenty percent of Americans are not connected to BIAS. For half of those Americans and nearly forty percent of rural Americans, there is no BIAS to connect to in their area. For the other half, cost and other barriers discourage adoption.

[Gigi B. Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/access-and-affordability-policy-open-internet-ecosys…

Teaser:

Recommendations to ensure that the Internet is accessible and affordable and that broadband Internet access service providers and online platforms are transparent about how they conduct their businesses

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Thu, 07/26/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/25/2018

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Thu, 07/26/2018

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Competition Policy for an Open Internet Ecosystem

benton — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 11:35:33 +0000

In my Georgetown Law Technology Review article, I propose a new policy framework to restore an open Internet ecosystem. In my first post on this topic, I made the argument for such a framework, and in my second post, I discussed the policy recommendations in two of the policy categories, regulatory oversight, and privacy. In this post, I’ll discuss my recommendations for perhaps the most difficult and broadest issue to address - competition. Improving competition for broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers and for the largest search, social media, and e-commerce sites will require the most change and oversight but may have the greatest impact in opening the Internet ecosystem. BIAS providers and platforms perform different roles and operate under different business models; solutions for promoting competition in each industry are similarly diverse. However, improvements to antitrust law can be applied across the board and well beyond the Internet ecosystem.

[Gigi B. Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/competition-policy-open-internet-ecosystem

Teaser:

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Wed, 07/25/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/24/2018

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Publish Date:

Wed, 07/25/2018

Coverage Type:

Analysis

Internet/Broadband

Competition/Antitrust

Platforms

Regulatory Oversight and Privacy Policy for an Open Internet Ecosystem

benton — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 11:42:52 +0000

In my previous post, I highlighted four reasons why the U.S needs a unified policy framework for an open Internet ecosystem: 1) lack of competition/incentive and the ability to discriminate; 2) collection of and control over personal data; 3) lack of transparency; and 4) inadequacy of current laws and enforcement. Many of these problems can be addressed with targeted legislative and regulatory interventions. Others require more research and investigation before the right policy prescriptions can be developed. The policy proposals I suggest can be placed in five categories: 1) regulatory oversight, 2) privacy, 3) competition, 4) access and affordability, and 5) transparency. Here I’ll address my recommendations for regulatory oversight and privacy and the other three categories in subsequent posts.

[Gigi B. Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/regulatory-oversight-and-privacy-policy-open-interne…

Teaser:

There can be no effective policy framework for an open Internet ecosystem if policymakers lack the legal tools to enforce that framework. Neither the FCC nor the FTC currently have adequate legal authority to promote an open Internet.

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Tue, 07/24/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/23/2018

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Tue, 07/24/2018

Coverage Type:

Analysis

Agenda

Upcoming policy issue

The U.S. Needs a New Policy Framework for an Open Internet Ecosystem

benton — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 11:30:02 +0000

[Analysis] In a new article for the Georgetown Law Technology Review, I seek to jumpstart a conversation about how to shape an Internet ecosystem that will serve the public interest. First, let me lay out the rationale for a new, unified policy framework for an open Internet: 1) Lack of Competition/Incentive and Ability to Discriminate, 2) Collection of and Control over Personal Data, 3) Lack of Transparency, and 4) Inadequacy of Current Laws and Enforcement.

[Gigi B. Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/us-needs-new-policy-framework-open-internet-ecosyste…

Teaser:

In a new article for the Georgetown Law Technology Review, I seek to jumpstart a conversation about how to shape an Internet ecosystem that will serve the public interest. First, let me lay out the rationale for a new, unified policy framework for an open Internet.

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Mon, 07/23/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/20/2018

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