by Thad Nation, Executive Director

While the U.S. faces one of the worst recessions in history, the debate over net neutrality is picking up steam. Job creation and innovation are essential for rebuilding our struggling economy, and technology expansion – particularly access to broadband – is a surefire way to foster economic development.

A new study from New York University Law School has shown that net neutrality regulations proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will actually hinder broadband development, costing the U.S. at least $62 billion annually for the next five years and eliminating 502,000 jobs. This is a hit our economy cannot weather.

With additional regulations in place, broadband providers may have to cut investments by 10 to 30 percent before 2015. According to Charles Davidson, director of the law school’s Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute, a 30 percent cut would mean an $80 billion hit. Imagine what $80 billion could do if it were invested in technology.

Aside from the direct economic impacts, the resulting cut in investments would mean reduced network capacity and opportunity for new services.

The regulations would also affect broadband providers’ ability to offer high-quality network services for applications that need it most, such as telemedicine and e911. The FCC’s regulations would make it illegal for providers to use a smart network prioritizing such applications, and require that data be processed on a first-come first-serve basis. This means a music download would take precedence over an incoming e911 call.

This study is just one of several in recent months that has shown net neutrality regulations would have a damaging impact on our economy and opportunities for growth and innovation.

Here in Wisconsin, we’ve seen a great deal of progress in expanding broadband access across the state. We’re already one of the top 10 states in the country for households with Internet access, and – provided the funding is approved by the Joint Finance Committee in the Wisconsin State Legislature – our state is on track to use nearly $29 million in state and federal funds to expand broadband infrastructure. That will help bring high-speed Internet access to public facilities in 380 communities by the end of next year.

That public expansion lays the foundation for private companies to use the infrastructure to expand their services to even more parts of the state. Why enact regulations that would restrict that growth and potentially hamstring the broadband deployment many parts of our state so desperately need?