I authored Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 because I wanted to ensure the deployment of broadband advanced services to all Americans, both in rural and urban areas. Undoubtedly, that will be critical for American competitiveness as our country enters the 21st century. Given the statistics I just cited, I find it absolutely unbelievable that the Commission could come to such a conclusion. I can certainly tell you that my constituents in rural Montana are not telling me that broadband deployment is widespread. The central goal of the 1996 Act is to encourage competition and move away from regulation.
Competition encourages investment and innovation in new technologies.
Competition, not regulation, empowers consumers with more choices, better services and lower prices. In the 1996 Act, we expected that cable would compete with the local phone companies and therefore dealt with the issue in two ways. We instructed the FCC and state commissions to encourage the deployment of advanced services to all Americans under Section 706. Both actions by Congress suggest the point that Congress intended for cable Internet service to remain free from interconnection obligations under the Act. If we impose a regulatory regime on cable operators at this early stage, it could jeopardize their access to venture capital and threaten to derail the very efforts we are trying to promote.