The Phoenix Center has released a new study, backing up a previous study by the company, 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, while investment 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 added.
Ford said that since 2010 -- when Title II was first proposed by then-FCC chair Julius Genachowski (when 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 overhand and eventual 2015 reclassification.
