The Phoenix Center has released a new study, backing up its previous study, on the impact of Title II classification of ISPs on telecommunications investment.
The new study, which addresses comments on the study released last month, concludes that without reclassification, investment in total fixed assets would have been about $30 billion more annually and in equipment and property would have been $20 billion more.
"Reclassification has weighed heavily upon the broadband industry for years," said study author and Phoenix Center chief economist Dr. George S. Ford in releasing the new report, Net Neutrality, Reclassification and Investment: A Further Analysis, which updates last month's Net Neutrality, Reclassification and Investment: A Counterfactual Analysis. "A variety of proper statistical procedures applied to public data confirm sizable declines in investment in Internet networks."
Ford says that since 2010—when Title II was first proposed by then-FCC chairman Julius Genachowski (ultimately a compromise was struck with ISPs to avoid reclassification)—investment has been $150 billion to $200 billion less than it would have been without that regulatory overhang and eventual—in 2015—reclassification.
(Photo via Frankieleon's Flickr. Image taken on Feb. 14, 2017 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 9x16 aspect ratio.)
