The best way to protect the open Internet

Blair Levin is the executive director of Gig.U, which aims to increase build-out of very high-speed broadband networks. Levin also crafted the National Broadband Plan, which urged gigabit networks, and he worries that we aren't approaching that goal.

In a recent article in Gigaom.com, Levin fears that the DC court of appeals’ decision on net neutrality is making the problem worse. Writes Levin:

"The prospect of gigabit networks is something to wish for, particularly in light of the court decision throwing out the FCC’s network neutrality order. In a world of abundant bandwidth, concerns about allocating scarce bandwidth in an anti-competitive way diminish. If, however, we want to lead in the next generation of the internet, as we did in its first, we need leadership that models itself on generals who focus on supply chains, rather than talking heads who focus on sound bites.”

In other words, capacity and speed are essential to an open Internet. Broadband which is limited and rationed will never be truly open.

Read Levin's article here.

Gig.U (website)

Why it’s time for the U.S. to get serious about its broadband problem (Blair Levin, Gigaom, Jan. 17, 2014)

Verizon v. FCC (US Court of Appeals for DC, Jan. 14, 2014)