By Parul Desai, Vice President of the Media Access Project

Every day, millions of Americans log onto the Internet, for professional and personal uses, for social, political, and economic reasons.  With a simple click of a mouse, users have access to almost an infinite amount of information, as well as the ability to deliver their own content and information.

Underlying this seemingly simple transaction is a series of extensive arrangements and contracts among various companies to connect their networks, often referred to as “special access.”  Many broadband and Internet providers – whether it’s through a wireless or wireline connection – need to negotiate for “special access” carriage to deliver broadband and Internet services to their customers.  However, the special access market is a highly concentrated one, in which two major providers own 90% of the market.  In turn, these providers leverage their market dominance to extract high prices and onerous terms and conditions.  This lack of competition for special access services and market abuse by incumbent companies is of great concern.

For all the technical talk, economic and market theories, and legal battles among powerful companies, ultimately, for the average user, the value of the Internet is the ability of citizens to speak to one another, to be publishers and speakers as well as readers and listeners.  As the Supreme Court has observed in Reno v. ACLU, the content of the Internet is “as diverse as human thought.” And, importantly, unlike television and cable, the Internet is not simply a medium through which programers make decisions for passive viewers about content.  Rather, it is a medium that supports and enhances the free expression of citizens and serves as a vehicle for democratic governance and economic and social activities.

However, to be able to maximize the use and value of the Internet, it must be accessible and affordable to all citizens.  That is why, to protect this democratic nature of the medium, which depends on broadband being accessible and affordable, it is critical that special access is reasonably available to broadband competitors.  Recognizing that the current market has some issues, the Federal Communications Commission nearly five years ago did begin a proceeding to review the special access market to see what changes are necessary to ensure reasonable prices.  The FCC has not taken any action yet, and the market continues to deteriorate, with ripple effects through the entire broadband economy.

For this reason, Media Access Project urges the FCC to act quickly as possible to remedy this situation.