Prohibit competition? It seems hard to believe, but according to a report today in Communications Daily, that’s exactly what a New Hampshire Senate committee has voted to do. A bill — SB-386 — approved by the Energy, Environment and Economic Development Committee would largely ban incumbent telephone companies with more than 25,000 lines from competing in the territory of telephone companies with less than 25,000 lines.
The bill is almost commendable for its anti-competitive candor. For the past generation, there has been a consensus in the telecom policy world in favor of competition. It has uniformly, and justifiably, been considered a positive good. Debates have largely been over how to further competition, not whether it should be furthered. Even those trying to stifle competition have struggled to frame their positions in pro-competitive terms.
Not so the New Hampshire Senate. In the blunt Granite State tradition, there’s little fiddle-faddling in this bill. The message is clear: Competing with small phone companies is bad. Don’t do it.
Never mind whether competition might be good for those companies’ customers. Or whether Fairpoint Communications — which will be the biggest phone company in New Hampshire once its purchase of Verizon’s assets is completed — is itself a “little guy”. Or whether things like this led Verizon to sell to Fairpoint to start with.
New Hampshire’s straightforward talk is refreshing. But Granite State consumers may find the actual policy rather stale and stifling.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.