Association for Competitive Technology

ACT argues that mandating forced access would retard broadband development and have a negative impact on Michigan's ability to expand its role in the rapidly growing Internet economy. Its argument is based on the following two reasons:

• The market place is highly competitive today and delivering real benefits to consumers. The speed of cable deployment has stimulated massive new national investments in alternative broadband technologies such as DSL, fixed wireless and satellite. The broadband market is already competitive; therefore there is no need for government intervention.

• Imposing regulations on the Internet industry would only cause delays in offering broadband services to consumers and would create a litigation explosion. ACT argues that if a forced access provision were to become a law, it would cause a litigation and regulatory morass, chilling investments by new players in high speed Internet services while also diminishing the incentives for the existing Internet access providers to upgrade their systems.

ACT concludes that the right public policy goal should be to lift regulations where competition exists, and not to impose these regimes on a marketplace that is working effectively. It is far more effective for private parties to determine the terms and conditions by which broadband is offered to consumers.

Return to Start