February 14, 2017
Next-generation networks increasingly will play a critical role in upgrading the efficiency of the nation’s infrastructure assets, USTelecom President & CEO Jonathan Spalter said during a panel focused on infrastructure and investment at NARUC’s 2017 winter meeting. Spalter appeared on a panel with executives from the water, oil and gas industries.
Broadband strengthens brick and mortar assets, and continuing investment in internet infrastructure is essential to keep pace with fast-moving broadband-fueled innovation, Spalter said. Pro-consumer and pro-investment policies are especially important in this economic climate, given the worrying dip in 2015 broadband industry capital investment captured in a December USTelecom industry report.
Another necessary next step is thinking smartly about a new legislative framework that reflects today’s digital realities, and does not regulate broadband under railroad and rotary phone rules of the past, Spalter said.