Andrew Yang on Net Neutrality and free Internet

[adammartin13]

Just  to clear the air I have no intention of making this a political thread; this post is in regards to Andrew Yang's ideas on Net Neutrality and fiber infrastructure in the US. I trust in this forums technical cognizance to be capable of trading constructive ideas back and forth without spreading political dissension.

 

About two weeks ago I drove out to Columbia SC to talk to presidential candidate Andrew Yang. He spoke about his policies of course but when he got around to answering questions from the audience I was curious on his stance towards net neutrality given how it was such a hot issue last year that's now gone dark across the democratic debate. To be fair I am unsure as to if this is coming from a lack of interest in the topic or a lack of media coverage.

When one of Andrews staff members brought up the question his response was not what I was expecting. Andrew Yang is certainly pro-net neutrality but it seems that he wants to go a step further; classifying ISP's under Title II, increase competition through local-loop unbundling, and investing in ensuring that every household has access to a fiber-optic connection. Sources:
https://www.yang2020.com/policies/net-neutrality/
https://www.yang2020.com/policies/rebuild-america/

Now I didn't have the chance to record this statement at the time but he did go further into detail as to how he would achieve his fiber-optic goal. Currently about 25% of the US has access to a fiber connection and the only thing stopping this number from growing is the cost of implementation ( https://broadbandnow.com/Fiber ). Yang's solution to this was to find the rate between cost of installation and margin of profitability and pay the difference on a per area basis, negotiating a deal with telecom companies to offer approximately three years of sole ownership over the deployed lines before new competition sets foot. I'm also unsure if this reconstruction of our data lines includes Yang's proposal of the Legion of Builders and Destroyers in regards to redirecting 10% of our military budget to modernize and keep American infrastructure safe ( https://www.yang2020.com/policies/rechannel-military-spending/ ).

 

By the end of the event everyone had a chance to talk to Andrew for a quick photo op. Given that his plans on internet infrastructure would already include ensuring a fiber optic connection to everyone's homes and increase competition by removing regional monopolies on data lines, I wanted to know if I could press him into establishing 10Mbps data speeds as a basic right for all Americans. My time with him was brief but I did get him to confirm that this was going to be his plan of action. Link to my post: https://twitter.com/AdamMartinTech/status/1129926374859386893 .

Personally I would like the United States to step up and provide this gateway towards free internet access although I can see the lack of fiber optics being our primary road block towards getting there. With telecom companies at the moment settling on older copper models until renovations are necessary, it's easy to assume that they don't plan on investing in fiber optics any time soon in rough terrain areas that lack it. For more information on the instillation on fiber optics I would recommend giving this a read: http://www.thefoa.org/tech/ref/OSP/install.html .

I'm hesitant towards Yangs idea of negotiating with telecom into making this happen with the trade-off of creating temporary monopolies as this is contradictory towards his plans of establishing local loop unbundling. Perhaps this is his idea of good progress through slow process although I'll leave that to you guys to decide.

I am of the opinion that classifying the internet under Title II is a step backwards, albeit in a better direction then where net neutrality stands at the moment. The Communications Act of 1934 is outdated, and I believe that the best step forward is to create a new rule-set for establishing an open and free internet.

Other policies that Andrew has considered include:
    - Cryptocurrency Regulation: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/digital-asset-regulation/
    - Quantum Computing: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/quantum-computing/
    - Revive the Office of Technology Assessment: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reviveota/
    - Create a Value-Added Tax: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/value-added-tax/
    - Implement a Freedom Dividend: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/the-freedom-dividend/
    - Fund Medical Technology: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/medical-technology-innovation/
    - Transition to Self Driving: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/trucking-czar/
    - Modernize Voting: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/modernize-voting/
    - Eliminate Media-born National Discourse: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/media-fragmentation/
    - AI Regulation: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/regulating-ai-emerging-technologies/
    - End Robo-Calling: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/robo-calling-text-line/
I would be interested in hearing your opinions on some of these policies, the ones I have here are technical in some form although Andrew has spoken out about many other things as well which you can check out on his website.

I'd like to hear what you guys have to say about Andrew Yang's proposals. What are your thoughts on free internet, internet infrastructure, and net neutrality?

 

[Video Beagle]

Interesting read. Thanks for posting.

I couldn't tell you I'd even heard of him before this.

 

I'm not really for your idea of 10Mb/s as a basic right...I mean, don't get me wrong, it'd be good, but I think there's a bunch of stuff we need to tackle first.  It IS embarassing how bad our network infrastructure is compared to other first world nations...We should be leading the pack.

[dalekphalm]

I don’t think legislating fibre to EVERY home is a good idea for a country like the US (or Canada). 

 

But I do think that access to “lower” high speed internet (say 5-10Mbps) should be a guaranteed right to all residents. Internet is so important to getting information now - and even things like applying for jobs, etc. 

 

People who live 3 hours from the closest town or library should still be able to access the “modern” internet. How that’s accomplished can and should vary based on what’s practical to implement. 

 

Whether that means fixed wireless, Cellular, Satellite, etc.