Eshoo Defends Open Internet Order, 2 Years Later
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai “can hardly wait to unwind the FCC’s existing open internet protections, and is a proponent of unchecked corporate control of the Internet,” and the Trump administration overall is “openly hostile to net neutrality,” wrote Rep. Anna…
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Eshoo, D-Calif., in an opinion piece for The Hill Thursday. Neither Pai nor the administration has offered precise plans on the order. “Some critics of the FCC’s rules claim that investment in broadband infrastructure was harmed by the adoption of these rules, but broadband providers themselves tell a different story,” said Eshoo, former ranking member of the Communications Subcommittee, citing AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson’s meeting with President Donald Trump to tout the company’s investments. She also cited recent remarks from House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who conceded no drawback in investment (see 1702140055). Eshoo said “investment in online businesses increased 35 percent in the year following the adoption of the rules,” saying Snap “painted a stark picture of what the app economy could look like without strong net neutrality rules in place” in recent initial public offering paperwork. “To keep our nation the greatest in the world, we have an abiding obligation to ensure freedom of speech to all Americans. This includes preserving an open internet and it must begin with Chairman Pai and the FCC,” Eshoo said. Economist Hal Singer, who has consulted for AT&T, tweeted that these investment claims were “fishy,” saying AT&T’s domestic broadband capital expenditures are “down big.”