Effective competition

FederalStateLocal

Policymakers should relax or remove laws and regulations only when there are clear consumer benefits. They should ensure true and effective competition to the fullest extent possible, including: 

  • lower prices and better-quality service, 
  • appropriate consumer protections to address ineffective or insufficient competition, and 
  • rigorous regulatory action and oversight to maintain and enhance competition. 

Federal and state policymakers should first establish clear standards for effective competition. At a minimum, they should include: 

  • a range of accessible, comparable, and useful consumer options at just, reasonable, and affordable rates; 
  • equitable distribution of the benefits of competition across all residential consumer groups, including consumers with low incomes and rural consumers; 
  • low switching barriers to ensure consumers are unimpeded in their ability to change service providers; and 
  • clear, reliable, and meaningful price and service-quality information that is easily accessible and comparable across providers. 

Policymakers should conduct monitoring, oversight, and enforcement over competition and service-provider performance across all providers and technology platforms. If promises or predictions regarding effective competition, prices, service quality, reliability, and overall consumer protections are not realized, policymakers should impose and enforce sanctions, introduce strict regulatory controls, reconsider regulatory flexibility previously granted, or a combination of these. 

Consumers should be protected from bearing the cost and risk of telecommunications carriers’ entry into new markets. 

Federal and state policymakers should ensure that all occupants of multifamily dwelling units have access to the energy and telecommunications providers of their choice.