Editing Net neutrality (section)

===Significant and growing competition, investment===
A 2010 paper on net neutrality by Nobel Prize economist [[Gary Becker]] and his colleagues stated that "there is significant and growing competition among broadband access providers and that few significant competitive problems have been observed to date, suggesting that there is no compelling competitive rationale for such regulation."<ref name="faculty.chicagobooth.edu"/> Becker and fellow economists Dennis Carlton and Hal Sidler found that "Between mid-2002 and mid-2008, the number of high-speed broadband access lines in the United States grew from 16 million to nearly 133 million, and the number of residential broadband lines grew from 14 million to nearly 80 million. Internet traffic roughly tripled between 2007 and 2009. At the same time, prices for broadband Internet access services have fallen sharply."<ref name="faculty.chicagobooth.edu"/> The PPI reports that the profit margins of U.S. broadband providers are generally one-sixth to one-eighth of companies that use broadband (such as Apple or Google), contradicting the idea of monopolistic price-gouging by providers.<ref name="progressivepolicy.org"/>

When FCC chairman Tom Wheeler redefined broadband from 4&nbsp;Mbit/s to 25&nbsp;Mbit/s (3.125&nbsp;[[MB/s]]) or greater in January 2015, FCC commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Reilly believed the redefinition was to set up the agency's intent to settle the net neutrality fight with new regulations. The commissioners argued that the stricter speed guidelines painted the broadband industry as less competitive, justifying the FCC's moves with Title II net neutrality regulations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/sorry-your-broadband-internet-technically-isnt-broadband-anymore/|title=Sorry, your broadband Internet technically isn't broadband anymore|publisher=CBS Interactive|website=CNET|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224022942/http://www.cnet.com/news/sorry-your-broadband-internet-technically-isnt-broadband-anymore/|archive-date=24 February 2015}}</ref>

A report by the [[Progressive Policy Institute]] in June 2014 argues that nearly every American can choose from at least 2–4 broadband Internet service providers, despite claims that there are only a "small number" of broadband providers.<ref name="progressivepolicy.org"/> Citing research from the FCC, the Institute wrote that 90 percent of American households have access to at least one wired and one wireless broadband provider at speeds of at least 4&nbsp;[[Mbit/s]] (500&nbsp;[[kbyte/s]]) downstream and 1&nbsp;Mbit/s (125&nbsp;kbyte/s) upstream and that nearly 88 percent of Americans can choose from at least two wired providers of broadband disregarding speed (typically choosing between a cable and telco offering). Further, three of the four national wireless companies report that they offer 4G LTE to 250–300&nbsp;million Americans, with the fourth (T-Mobile) sitting at 209&nbsp;million and counting.<ref name="progressivepolicy.org"/> Similarly, the FCC reported in June 2008 that 99.8% of [[ZIP code]]s in the United States had two or more providers of high-speed Internet lines available, and 94.6% of ZIP codes had four or more providers, as reported by University of Chicago economists Gary Becker, Dennis Carlton, and Hal Sider in a 2010 paper.<ref name="faculty.chicagobooth.edu"/>