OTI Statement on Flawed US Telecom Report

Today, US Telecom reissued a misleading and inaccurate report on the cost of internet service. The report also criticizes OTI’s Cost of Connectivity study, which surveyed 760 internet plans around the world and found unaffordable prices across the United States, particularly in rural and tribal communities. US Telecom and its affiliated lobbyists have published several spurious attacks on the Cost of Connectivity, which President Biden recently cited as justification for his broadband infrastructure plan. Recent studies from the Wall Street Journal, Free Press, and economist Thomas Philippon support OTI’s findings.

The following quote can be attributed to Joshua Stager, deputy director of broadband and competition policy for New America’s Open Technology Institute:

"Today’s US Telecom report is the latest in a spate of flawed and deeply conflicted research from internet service providers on the price of their own service. It is curious that US Telecom would rely on third-party surveys rather than get the pricing data directly from its ISP members. If internet service is as affordable as US Telecom claims, ISPs could prove it by disclosing their pricing data to the FCC.

“OTI’s research makes clear that the cost of broadband in the United States is too often opaque, misleading, and unaffordable. We identified prices the same way consumers do—by going directly to the ISPs and seeing what they advertise at a given address. If ISP advertising is inaccurate or hides the true price, then that is a flaw in their transparency with consumers, not the data. Our study’s methodology is fully transparent. The entire dataset is published online so anyone can review it and crunch their own numbers. 

“We understand these are inconvenient truths for some in the broadband industry, but the data speaks for itself. It is disappointing that industry lobbyists have invested so much time misrepresenting our study with specious analyses. We must have struck a nerve.”