[...] markets will regulate themselves...which is exactly why we should let them do that instead of inviting Congress in to regulate.

On March 29th, 2006, Dr. Adam Drobot testified before the Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness regarding Investing in Communications for Tomorrow’s Innovations: The Case for Increased Basic Research Funding [PDF]. “Speaking as the Chairman of the Telecommunications Industry Association’s Communication Research Division,” Dr. Drobot urged “that federal funding for communications-specific, pre-competitive, basic research be increased [...]” (p.2). Further, he concluded his testimony with:

I would like to close by saying that U.S. industry is unable to fully self-fund the research necessary to discover and exploit long-term, ground-breaking advances so critical to the health and competitiveness of the nation. The history of the telecommunications industry has left us with weak public mechanisms for funding pre-competitive research in communications, paradoxically, because so much of the research was initially done in a dominant institution – “Bell Labs”. While that institution left an incredible legacy of successful inventions which has paid off well for our nation – the mechanisms of funding on which it depended no longer exists. New partnerships between industry, government and universities are needed to meet tomorrow’s challenges and to maintain the competitive position of the United States in the communications industry.

But, Oldhats, you advocate keeping Congress out of the telecom marketplace. Perhaps your well-informed economic judgement leads you to believe in the mystical power of the self-regulating “Market” which magically provides optimum investment in public goods.