Project 2025 Could Mean 'Wild West' of Broadband Deregulation: Benton

If the incoming presidential administration enacts the broadband regulatory suggestions in Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, it will bring "a new era of wild West-style deregulation for broadband," Penn State doctoral student Abby Simmerman blogged Tuesday at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Project 2025's urges deregulation and public spending cuts. Simmerman said deregulation could benefit satellite broadband operators, such as SpaceX and Amazon's Kuiper and incumbent internet service providers, easing the path to potential acquisitions. Project 2025 also criticizes inefficiency in U.S. broadband programs, arguing that a lack of a national strategy has created redundancies and waste, Simmerman wrote. The comprehensive program review it recommends would attempt to eliminate programs deemed duplicative. The USF undoubtedly would see a reduction in spending, given how Project 2025 urges “right-sizing the federal government’s existing broadband initiatives," she added. The next FCC is also unlikely to initiate affordability programs, Simmerman predicted.