Are Net Neutrality Rules Stifling Fixed Network Investment?

There's really no way to say for certain whether U.S. network neutrality rules have shifted investment decisions. A rational actor, owning both mobile and fixed assets, might well conclude that higher investment returns are gotten from deploying capital to support the mobile networks, rather than the fixed networks. 

But departing Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell speculates that mandating "best effort only" policies for the fixed network, while allowing mobile networks to potentially provide quality of service features could have something to do with investment decisions. 

To be sure, telco and cable TV operator capital investment is down substantially from late 1990s levels. But those reductions predate the net neutrality rules.