The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote Thursday to reinstate net neutrality rules for the internet, even though the web has been doing just fine without them. It's a classic case of fixing a problem that doesn't seem to exist.
Net neutrality rules were first adopted in 2015 under the Obama Administration. The rules allow the government to regulate broadband access under the guise of protecting consumers.
Net neutrality was supposed to prevent internet service providers (ISP's) from favoring or limiting internet traffic. It sounded good - in fact, large national companies and celebrities alike supported the idea - and predicted doom and gloom when it was repealed by the FCC in 2017.
But we now have the data to prove that the internet speed was improving before 2015 (pre-net neutrality), and continues to increase in this post net neutrality world.
Average broadband speeds in the United States have increased dramatically over the past six years. Average mobile internet speeds are up more than 300%.
Research by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity notes the gains in internet speed and cost decreases that occurred in the wake of repealing the net neutrality rules.
Both median internet download speeds and wireless speeds increased - and the U.S. rose in international rankings of download speeds from 45th to 16th. Prices, too, declined by as much as 28%.
And we see very few - if any - examples of ISP's blocking any content.
Unfortunately, the biggest factor that determines your internet speed is the place you live. Typically, more rural areas experience slower internet speeds. This is why we need more innovation - and less regulation.