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  "description": "ACA Connects study predicts steep investment drop; while major trade groups urge DOJ to preempt state laws",
  "path": "/industry-escalates-fight-against-state-broadband-rate-regulation/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-05-29T22:52:49.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_California_",
    "_Massachusetts_",
    "_Vermont_",
    "_Connecticut_",
    "_The study_",
    "_which has been accused of overreporting coverage_",
    "_Affordable Connectivity Program_",
    "_filed a comment with the Department of Justice_",
    "_enacted a law limiting_"
  ],
  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, May 29, 2025 – Broadband trade groups intensified their opposition to state-imposed broadband price caps this week.\n\nOn Thursday, ACA Connects released a study conducted by consulting firm Cartesian warning that such regulations could slash broadband investment by up to 41 percent.\n\nThe release came just days after CTIA, NCTA, and USTelecom filed comments with the Justice Department urging federal preemption of state laws they say mimic utility-style rules once proposed under federal Title II authority.\n\nBoth efforts reflect mounting industry concern resulting from states like New York successfully implementing laws to mandate low-cost broadband plans for low-income households.\n\nSeveral other states have introduced legislation that would cap prices providers can charge to low-income subscribers, including: _California_, _Massachusetts_, _Vermont_, _Connecticut_, Maryland, and Minnesota.\n\nThe analysis commissioned by ACA Connects and conducted by Cartesian Inc. found that broadband price regulations like New York’s Affordable Broadband Act could reduce capital investment by 19 to 41 percent.\n\n_The study_, presented by Cartesian vice president **Michael Dargue** on Thursday, concluded that “rate regulation interferes with competitive market dynamics and would result in less investment, less competition, and a reduction in consumer welfare” while “smaller [ISP] providers would face disproportionate economic burdens”.\n\n### _Capital investment could decline by 19%, study says_\n\nUsing a model that looked at investment decisions by internet service providers on a census-tract level, the group estimated that under the most lenient regulatory regime, with a general broadband average revenue per user (ARPU) of $70 and a low-income broadband ARPU of $30, capital investment would decline by 19 percent, or about $6.2 billion.\n\nUnder the strictest regime, with a broadband ARPU of $60 and a low-income broadband ARPU of $15, capital investment would decline by 41%, or over $13.5 billion.\n\n“Most states [would] lose between 15 to 35 percent of estimated network investment,” the study explains. “Less investment will result in fewer market entrants, and hence less service provider choice for consumers.”\n\nNotably, the study authors used Federal Communications Commission data, _which has been accused of overreporting coverage_, to estimate the number of US households served by at least one broadband provider. They also examined the average cost of broadband in urban areas, though confirmed that they did not have pricing data for rural areas.\n\nIt was not immediately clear if the model took into account exemptions that many recently proposed price caps give to smaller ISPs, which allow them to charge higher rates if they can show an economic need.\n\nThe ACA Connects study also expressed support for the now defunct _Affordable Connectivity Program_. It listed the ACP under a section titled “Examples of Alternative Affordability Tools” and listed several direct subsidy programs, such as those for housing, nutrition, and utilities, to demonstrate that “direct subsidies are a common policy tool to assist lower-income households in affording essential goods.”\n\nThe presentation of the Cartesian study comes just two days after the The Wireless Association (CTIA), The Internet & Television Association (NCTA), and USTelecom – The Broadband Association _filed a comment with the Department of Justice_ asking them “to consider bringing affirmative preemption litigation against the harmful state laws already on the books or soon enacted—particularly those that directly regulate broadband rates.”\n\nAt least one state, Tennessee, has moved in the opposite direction and _enacted a law limiting_ broadband service regulation by state entities.",
  "title": "Industry Escalates Fight Against State Broadband ‘Rate Regulation’",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T03:28:42.991Z"
}