Statement of Kent Lassman

Much of what I will share today is based on research done at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. However, we are not alone. Public policy organizations from Boston to Chicago, and from Denver to Seattle , continue to study, examine and test the ideas – and empirical results – that gird arguments for public provision of communications services. Fortunately, there is widespread agreement among independent analysts and academic scholars.

Public entities, in the words of University of Florida economist David Sappington and his coauthor Greg Sidak of the American Enterprise Institute, “may have greater ability than private firms to act anticompetitively. This enhanced ability arises in part from the expanded powers and special privileges that often extend to [public enterprises].”

In short, while municipal communications ventures are often permissible they are rarely advisable.

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