…the Wall Street Journal op-ed on high-speed Internet service, co-authored by the often-warring CEOs of Google and Verizon. Messrs. Schmidt and Seidenberg laud the FCC’s ambitious broadband plan – in particular, the focus on promoting innovative uses of the net in key areas like health care, the goal of raising download speeds to levels enjoyed in market-leaders Japan and Korea, and the determination to provide access to everyone. (What’s not to like, other than the price tag?)
But the CEOs are plainly not naïve about the risks of what amounts to a Manhattan Project for broadband: “The Internet has thrived in an environment of minimal regulation. While our two companies don’t agree on every issue, we do agree generally as a matter of policy that the framework of minimal government involvement should continue.”
Schmidt and Seidenberg hit the nail on the head. We just hope they really mean it – and that the FCC has the inclination and political will to manage this massive undertaking with a light hand.
