TechBytes

Antitrust reviews are the worst form of policymaking, with the government picking winners and losers, deciding what is “too big,” and otherwise carving up industry as if government has any understanding of business, innovation or even the effects of antitrust actions.  

The DoD is persuing a plan to operate a national 5G network but it seems to be shockingly unaware of the extent of technological innovation and progress in this country and how it came to be. 

If the goal is to ensure that low-income students have the digital tools needed to thrive during this school year, the city’s plan to build its own wireless network fails to come anywhere close to achieving it. 

Efforts to close the distance on the last mile of broadband now come down to arcane considerations like utility pole attachment. The FCC should clarify how pole replacement or upgrade costs should be fairly allocated between pole owners and broadband providers bringing broadband to unserved areas.

While the pandemic has imposed significant costs and losses on the economy, our broadband infrastructure has made it possible to work, shop, learn and be entertained while also maintaining social distancing, and is likely the single biggest factor in reducing the harm to the economy.

Under fairness or neutrality regulations for the internet, the most likely result is a chilling effect on internet free speech, under which platforms cannot run the liability risk of allowing political speech on their platforms.

American taxpayers are getting a safer, more advanced and much less expensive manned space program. And the key is the private sector.

Even before the global pandemic, video game industry growth was on a tear. It innovates useful technology and creates high-paying jobs. We should be vigilant against uninformed efforts to unnecessarily regulate or restrict its growth and innovation.

It turns out that free-markets work to promote innovation, new products and services, and more competition.

Plans for “10G” are now underway as the demand for broadband and the need for uninterrupted connectivity continues to grow rapidly.