There's now an intense battle going on at our Statehouse. Often incendiary volleys are now being exchanged between the supporters and opponents of Senate Bill 245 - the "Telecommunications Reform" legislation on its way to the Indiana House. Many of the attacks on the legislation target the small stuff, such as arguing that some local telephone rates of a relatively tiny number of customers could go up a bit.
But, it's time to focus more squarely on the broader impact that passage, or defeat, of this legislation would mean for Indiana, my newly-adopted home state. The choice before our legislature is clear: Do we maintain the status quo of arcane and unnecessary regulation that will limit citizens' choices for traditional and newly emerging communications services, or do we provide a climate conducive for communications companies of all shapes and sizes to invest and provide competitive services in the Hoosier state? The choice is clear, and the time for decision is drawing near.
Virtually my entire professional career has been involved in communications regulation, including several years as an attorney at the Federal Communications Commission. To be sure, telecommunications regulation does have its place, and in many circumstances it's vital - such as ensuring efficient emergency communications, universal access to basic phone service, fair and honest business practices and consumer protection where companies fail to live up to their promises or adhere to accepted standards of behavior. However, much of the telecommunications regulation found in the Hoosier state now serves as a superfluous surrogate for what should be the forces of a free marketplace.
The Indiana regulatory scheme now in place was created decades ago and is based on concerns that no longer are valid. At a time when competitors were few and analog technology provided the potential for only limited service, Indiana made its choice to, for example, regulate rates for service and maintain barriers to entry. But now the telecommunications - digital phone, video, broadband internet access - world has changed.
In many other states, new competitors and long-established companies are on the scene, providing all kinds of broadband services to the home and to the business community. Those states are offering a climate favorable not only for all telecommunications companies to invest in-state, but also for all in-state businesses to have ready and price-competitive access to broadband - the fuel for our new economy.
At Ball State, our students are now "hooked on broadband." In fact, our university now leads all other colleges and universities in the nation in terms of the availability and use of wireless broadband communications on a campus. It's not just the brightest minds in the graduating class that are hooked - so are established businesses and new forward-thinking entrepreneurs seeking places to locate their operations, hire their employees and provide services to the public. Educated people and educated companies simply won't spend time or do business where they don't have widespread access to multiple forms of broadband services.
In Indiana, we surely have some broadband services. However, full competition - and full benefit to people and our businesses - cannot be achieved until all telecommunications companies are allowed to compete under the same deregulated playing field. Our legislature must break down barriers to entry, eliminate unnecessary pricing controls and remove outmoded local and municipal regulation of what indeed are statewide, national and global services.
If not, bright people and bright businesses will look elsewhere.
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