Javier Palomarez: Washington Can't Ask for More Broadband Investment While Making Growth Harder

Americans increasingly need more from broadband and technology sectors. Policymakers want to respond. There’s a digital divide in rural areas with a growing struggle in expanding connectivity, AI and data center infrastructure, and domestic technology innovation. This is all necessary to ensure America is prepared to support the next generation’s economy.

Both parties have emphasized the importance of investment, innovation, and economic competitiveness with billions of dollars committed towards broadband development to date. But if Washington is serious about achieving these goals, it must recognize that none of it will be accomplished without private-sector capital. However, federal regulators must be mindful to not create new obstacles for the very businesses that are expected to help deliver these outcomes.

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One area deserving greater attention is the growing complexity surrounding merger and acquisition review. Merger policy very commonly focuses on large corporations and headline-grabbing transactions, but the practical impact extends far beyond Wall Street.

Across the broadband, telecommunications, infrastructure, and technology sectors, acquisitions and strategic investments frequently serve as important growth tools. They allow companies to access capital, expand capabilities, enter new markets, acquire expertise, and achieve the scale necessary to compete.

For many growing businesses, these transactions are not about eliminating competition. They are about surviving and growing in increasingly competitive markets.

Unfortunately, the Federal Trade Commission's expanded approach to premerger reporting requirements will make those transactions more costly, time-consuming, and uncertain.

The original purpose of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act was straightforward: provide regulators with the information necessary to identify transactions that could genuinely threaten competition. That remains as important today. The concern is whether the growing volume of required disclosures is producing meaningful enforcement benefits that justify the burden being imposed.

Large corporations can absorb additional legal costs, compliance obligations, and administrative requirements. Small and even mid-sized businesses simply cannot.

I've spent years advocating for entrepreneurs and small-business owners across the country. Most don't have in-house legal teams. They don't have compliance departments dedicated to navigating increasingly complex regulatory requirements. In today's fiscal climate, many are focused simply on meeting their monthly obligations and keeping their doors open. Every additional filing requirement means more legal fees, more consultant costs, more time spent on paperwork, and greater uncertainty for businesses already operating on tight margins.

Capital is highly sensitive to risk and uncertainty. Investors evaluating opportunities in broadband infrastructure, technology deployment, network expansion, or digital innovation want confidence that transactions can proceed efficiently and predictably. When the process becomes more burdensome, transaction costs rise, and investment becomes less attractive.

That should concern anyone who believes America needs the broadband deployment necessary to remain the global leader in technology and innovation.

The broadband industry is already facing enormous demands. Providers are working to expand service to underserved communities, modernize aging infrastructure, strengthen cybersecurity defenses, and prepare networks for the explosive growth in data consumption driven by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. Meeting these challenges requires significant investment at every level, making it essential that resources remain focused on innovation, expansion, and reliability rather than being diverted to unnecessary administrative burdens.

At the same time, Washington continues to call on the private sector to help connect more communities and close the digital divide. That's a goal we all share. But it's difficult to ask businesses to invest more, build more, and innovate more while simultaneously placing additional burdens in their path.

To be clear, none of this is an argument against antitrust enforcement. Competitive markets drive innovation, improve consumer outcomes, and strengthen the economy. Regulators should continue to identify and challenge transactions that genuinely threaten competition.

Strong antitrust enforcement is important. But there is a difference between protecting competition and creating new layers of bureaucracy. Before asking businesses to spend more time and money complying with additional reporting requirements, regulators should be able to show that the information they're collecting will meaningfully improve their ability to identify truly anticompetitive behavior. If the benefit is minimal, the burden on businesses simply isn't justified.

America's broadband future can’t be built through mandates alone. It will be built through investment, entrepreneurship, strategic partnerships, and innovation. If Washington wants more broadband deployment, stronger technology infrastructure, and greater economic growth, it should begin by ensuring that businesses can grow, invest, and compete without unnecessary obstacles standing in their way. The question isn't whether America needs more broadband investment. It does. The question is whether Washington will make it easier, or harder, to deliver it.

_Javier Palomarez is the President & CEO of the _United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC),the most featured Hispanic Organization in national media. Prior to his current role, he led the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where he helped raise the profile of the chamber. Palomarez is a leading voice, whose opinions have been sought after by the world’s leading media outlets including CNN, MSNBC, NBC, FOX Network, and the BBC. ** The son of Mexican immigrants, Mr. Palomarez was raised in south Texas, as a migrant farm worker. This Expert Opinion is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.**

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