---

Net Neutrality Zealots Are Wrong — The Market Just Proved It 

• 4:45 PM ET

=nts

Regulation: The internet has 60 days left before it is destroyed by the lack of federal "net neutrality" rules. That's the claim, anyway. The truth is, the internet is on the cusp of a vast improvement.

X

 

The 60-day clock started when the FCC's officially published its net neutrality repeal on Thursday. The repeal takes effect in two months, which means that, since its start in mid-2015, "net neutrality" will have been in effect less than three years — probably the shortest-lived federal regulation in history.

Nevertheless, its demise is being treated as a devastating blow to everyone who relies on the internet. Fortune declared that net neutrality supporters now have "60 days to save the web as we know it."

But other developments during the week show why the hue and cry about "net neutrality" is so utterly misplaced.

The same day the FCC issued its repeal, SpaceX launched test satellites for Starlink, a global broadband network envisioned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

The day before that, Dish Network (DISH) told the SEC in its 10K filing that it plans to commit $1 billion to build out an ultra-high-speed 5G wireless network over the next three years.

The day before that, AT&T (T) announced plans to roll out its 5G network in Dallas, Waco, Texas, and Atlanta this year. By the end of the year, it plans to have 5G in a dozen markets. Verizon also plans to start rolling out its 5G network this year.

---

For those who don't know, 5G wireless is about 50 times faster than the average home broadband network today. And because it's wireless, providers won't have to dig trenches and lay cable to sign up customers.

That means there will be more competition for internet access than there is today, and at speeds that make today's broadband look like dial-up.

With more competition for customers, ISPs won't "block, slow down, or charge more for certain content as they see fit" as net neutrality zealots claim. More likely, they will be in a frantic race to provide the fastest, most comprehensive, and most reliable service around.

That is, after all, how the internet worked before net neutrality. Between 2011 and 2014, average internet speeds tripled.

What net neutrality advocates won't tell you is that the only companies actually guilty of blocking, slowing down, or charging more for certain content are big net neutrality advocates like Netflix (NFLX) — which charges more if you want streaming HD — and Google (GOOGL) — which charges $10 a month for the better YouTube Red — and social media companies — which have been repeatedly shown to hamstring conservative content.

So yes, the internet won't be the same after Obama's net neutrality rules disappear. It will be far better.