Those of us who worry about the adverse impacts of additional Net neutrality regulations got a dose of encouragement Monday from a surprise source—a top White House technology official. Tom Kalil, the Obama administration’s deputy director-policy in the Office of Science & Technology Policy, told a conference on mobile technology that the government needs to carefully weigh the need for regulation before imposing it. He also mentioned that there are opportunities for the public and private sectors to team up to improve innovation.

As reported in the Nov. 2 edition of TR Daily, Kalil’s comments at the forum sponsored by Mobile Future signaled that the Obama administration’s appetite for regulating all forms of broadband might be more limited than political commentators have indicated. His remarks reflected the administration’s awareness of the dangers of unnecessary regulation and the benefits to society from vigorous consumer-driven competition. In that spirit, Kalil assured the mostly telecom crowd that the administration is not interested in implementing regulation for regulation’s sake:

“To the extent we can rely on competition … that is always better than relying on heavy-handed regulation.”

He added that when the government does act, it has to make sure the gains from its actions outweigh the potential setbacks.

Not surprisingly, Kalil’s sentiments got a positive response from the telecom industry officials and analysts at the forum. Many warned that new regulation would be a setback to broadband investment and job creation, especially in the current economic climate. Michael Rollins, managing director at Citi Investment Research, was reported as saying that the threat of regulation could play a significant role in broader investment in telecom markets. More compelling evidence that our policymakers are taking seriously the growing chorus of concern that we “first do no harm.”

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