CBPP hosts policy forum on the impact of broadband competition

On May 9, in the Rayburn House Office building, the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy hosted a Georgetown on the Hillpolicy forum on broadband competition. The discussion was introduced and moderated by John W. Mayo, Professor of Economics, Business, and Public Policy at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, and Executive Director, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. The panel of experts included:

Michelle P. Connolly, Professor of the Practice of Economics, Duke University
Larry Downes, Project Director and Senior Industry and Innovation Fellow, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy
Michael Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist, Progressive Policy Institute
Michael Rollins, Managing Director, Telecom and Communication Infrastructure Services, Citi Research

In a dynamic forum including audience Q+A, the panel of experts offered context and insights. A theme that emerged was the importance of tracking and using the right measures to understand broadband competition and productivity. Mayo led with an analogy between productivity gains associated with the adoption of personal computers and the adoption of broadband. Mandel highlighted the stunning growth in the so-called app economy and related employment developments and issues. Rollins explained the dynamics influencing investment in broadband and infrastructure. Connolly described how drilling down in the data reveals more nuanced or even different understandings of broadband access and usage. Downes reminded that in the Internet ecosystem the forces that shape competition extend beyond Michael Porter’s five-forces model also to include digitization, globalization, and regulation.