Broadband Internet is the means by which increasing numbers of Americans earn a living, receive an education, consume goods and services and participate in their democracy. Yet despite it’s importance, the United States ranks 15th among developed nations when it comes to broadband deployment.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 restructured the entire telecommunications industry and left virtually all cable subscribers without protection from unrestricted rate hikes. Since the Act was signed into law, cable rates have skyrocketed; service levels have declined; cable concentration has heavily increased; vertical integration between critical programming developers and cable distributors has gone unabated; wireline cable competitors have faced enormous obstacles going head-to-head with cable incumbents; incumbent cable operators have effectively exploited statutory loopholes in order to deny vital programming content to emerging competitors; and the cable industry now also dominates the broadband residential high-speed Internet market.