IP Convergence: Beyond VoIP, Beyond Cost Savings

Monday I had the pleasure of re-connecting with a former professor of mine, Nolan Bowie. He was gracious enough to allow me to guest lecture his class which focuses on the future of communications media and the intersection with public policy. I was honored to be asked to share my experiences and insights with such a diverse and eclectic group of truly gifted students.

It was extremely refreshing to engage with Professor Bowie whose ideas are both provocative and conventional at the same time. His ideas are provocative because they challenge the established interests in fundamental ways. But his ideas are conventional because they simply take established policy in one area and apply it in another. For example, just putting the label “national security” on something can dramatically change the way people address a concern. If economic competitiveness is a matter of national security and broadband deployment is a critical component of economic competitiveness, then massive government investment in broadband infrastructure doesn’t seem all that radical, and in fact seems down right conventional.

One of the reasons I was eager to guest lecture was to put forth the idea that the regulatory decision-making process is an obstacle to competition and that these future policy makers at the JFK School of Government need to consider how the decision making process impacts competitors and their service offerings. I have authored a paper on this topic which I will present at the 17th Biennial Conference of the International Telecommunications Society in Montreal on June 25th. (The paper should be on their website after May 5th for those of you interested in reading it.)