Tom Wheeler Defends Title II Rules, Accuses Pai of Helping Monopolists (arstechnica.com)

simkel shares a report from Ars Technica: Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler spoke out against the FCC's proposed repeal of net neutrality rules this week, saying the repeal will help monopoly broadband providers abuse their dominant position. There's "a monopoly provider for three-quarters of the homes in America, and no choice," Wheeler said in a forum (video) in Arlington, Virginia Monday hosted by US Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). "When you've only got one provider, who makes the rules? The provider makes the rules." Wheeler was referring to FCC data that shows most Americans live in areas with either one provider of high-speed broadband (at least 25Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream) or none at all. With the FCC's new Republican leadership seeking to overturn net neutrality rules, "the question becomes, will giant companies be able to exploit their monopoly position?" Wheeler said. "Who is going to stand up for consumers? Who is going to stand up for innovation? And who is going to stand up for the most important network for determining our future in the 21st century?"

Comments

Re:get government out of broadband and healthcare

[ffreeloader]

The first thing I say in response to your quote is: who fact-checked this? Anything coming out of a politician or bureaucrats mouth needs fact checking. Tom Wheeler is a Democrat first and whatever else he his, or has been in his life, comes second. That means he has a particular agenda, like the rest of the politicians in this country, in mind when he makes a statement.

My experience over the years has been that even if something a politician or media person says is something I might agree with I need to fact check the statement before I accept it as true. Politicians are politicians because they like power, and when you like power regulation is very attractive as they can be enacted and then pointed at by the politician as something he has "done" for his constituents, even if the unintended consequences of his action are terrible. And then he will deny that those consequences have anything to do with his actions.

Since honest politicians are about as rare as hen's teeth everything they say must be verified and then looked at to see if what he is pointing at is an unintended consequence from his own or other politician's actions.