The Hill published an op-ed criticizing the “growing fascination with publicly funded broadband networks” and touting the “private-sector” as the best way to build telecommunications networks. But the Capitol Hill paper failed to disclose that the author is a telecom consultant and co-chair of an association backed by telecomm companies.

Larry Irving wrote an April 9 piece claiming “the specter of governments operating broadband networks in competition with the private sector, or of state or local governments serving as both regulators and owners of competing broadband networks, could stifle investment or reduce private-sector access to capital.” Irving added that “with the exception of bringing or improving service to remote geographies, I don't see many problems that government-owned or -operated broadband networks will solve.”

The Hill simply identified Irving as follows: “Irving is the CEO of the Irving Group and served for almost seven years as assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).”

That identification vastly understates Irving's financial connections to the industry he wrote about. Irving is the founding co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA), an IRS 501(c)(6) association backed by telecomm companies whose purpose is to “prevent the creation of burdensome regulations,” according to documents filed with the IRS. IIA reportedly receives financial support from AT&T and includes members such as Alcatel-Lucent and TechAmerica, which lobbies on behalf of technology companies. The group's 2011 IRS tax form -- the most recent one available -- states it received over $18 million in revenue. (Note: This post's description of IIA has been updated for clarity.) 

While The Hill noted that Irving heads the Irving Group, it did not disclose that the firm provides “strategic advice and assistance to international telecommunications and information technology companies.”

The Hill op-ed comes after the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, released a February 2014 report concluding that federally funded and municipal networks were faster and cheaper than comparable networks. Specifically, the GAO found:

• “federally funded or municipal networks offered higher top speeds than other networks in the same community and networks in nearby communities.”
• “prices charged by federally funded and municipal networks were slightly lower than the comparison networks' prices for similar speeds.”
• “according to small business owners, the improvements to broadband service have helped the businesses improve efficiency and streamline operations. Small businesses that use the services of these networks reported a greater ability to use bandwidth-intensive applications for inventory management, videoconferencing, and teleworking, among other things.”

Telecommunications companies are lobbying heavily against public broadband across the country. Ars Technica wrote that Internet service providers have teamed up with “friends in state legislatures to pass laws that make it more difficult or impossible for cities and towns to offer broadband service.” They explain that recent laws are “often based on a model devised by the American Legislative Exchange Council," a shadowy conservative group. Since 1998, telecom companies like AT&T have spent “nearly half a billion dollars lobbying the federal government, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.”