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Op-Ed: Sohn likely to make misguided push
for taxpayer-funded networks as FCC commissioner
[The Center Square] Johnny Kampis
Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) nominee Gigi Sohn is a big advocate of taxpayer-funded
government-owned internet networks (GONs), despite scant evidence of
their benefit. In fact, there is plenty of data showing they’re taxpayer
boondoggles. |
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 The Biden administration recently tapped Sohn as a nominee for
the fifth seat on the FCC, a move that Congress would need to approve. Even
though there’s a Democratic majority on Capitol Hill, Sohn’s confirmation is not
assured.
If confirmed, Sohn will likely form a voting block with her fellow Democrats,
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, to push the
agenda of the left when it comes to communications. That means increased
regulations on providers, such as the reimplementation of Title II regulations,
and the push for more government spending on GONs.
In the age of COVID-19, Democrats have strongly advocated for
state and local governments to get involved in the internet business. President
Joe Biden’s agenda calls for the U.S. National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
“to support cities and towns that want to build municipally-owned broadband
networks.” This means taxpayers will pay for these systems.
In addition, a Democratic task force last summer created a list of
recommendations that includes taking “action to prevent states from blocking
municipalities and rural co-ops from building publicly-owned broadband networks,
and increase federal support for municipal broadband.”
 Sohn, FCC counsel under former Democratic chairman Tom Wheeler and architect of
the initial Title II regulations, would be in lockstep with that agenda. She
testified to the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce’s
Subcommittee on Communications in support of the Democrats’ plan to supersede
state laws.
"These laws, passed at the urging of the largest incumbent broadband providers,
are not only flatly anticompetitive, they prohibit deployment in rural
communities that the incumbents have no intention of ever serving," she said.
"Most destructively, these laws directly raise the price of broadband for the
most vulnerable Americans."
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The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) previously
reported on how the left has pushed a misleading narrative about
broadband pricing that doesn’t take into account speeds and
population density.
Ultimately, Democrats softened on their goal of
lifting state prohibitions on GONs as the infrastructure bill made
its way through the Senate. But, the legislation still allows the
broadband funding portion to be used to build government networks, a
plan that Sohn told the Wall Street Journal she likes.
"It's an absolute sea change, a significant increase in the
involvement of the federal and state government in the broadband
market ... Is it everything I would have wanted? No. But it's a
major step forward and can be supplemented with action from the FCC
and other agencies,” she said.
Critics of more government funding for broadband point to billions
of taxpayer dollars already appropriated for it, which includes more
than $127 billion through various sources and an additional $788
billion in COVID-19 relief, some of which can be used for high-speed
internet. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill currently being debated
on Capitol Hill, has another $65 billion in broadband funding.
As TPA has reported extensively, taxpayer-funded internet projects
often fail for various reasons, including low take rates,
mismanagement and a lack of institutional knowledge about running
broadband networks.
TPA highlighted many of those failures in its 2020 report “GON with
the Wind: The Failed Promise of Government Owned Networks Across
America.” More follies are noted on TPA’s “Broadband Boondoggles.”
Instead of pushing for more government internet, Sohn and the rest
of the FCC should instead focus on removing the red tape that harms
providers’ efforts to build broadband infrastructure in unserved
areas.
Johnny Kampis is a senior fellow and investigative reporter for the
Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
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