The Massachusetts Senator and former academic has risen to prominence in the crowded race for the Democratic nomination for her detailed policy proposals. These include a $2tn investment in clean energy, breaking up the tech giants which aggressively stifle competition, and an end to fossil fuel subsidies.

Now, Warren has used an op-ed in the Washington Post to criticise ISPs (including Comcast, Charter, AT&T and Verizon) and to argue that the FCC has failed to hold them to account, with Trump-appointed FCC chair Ajit Pai acting as an “effective agent” for these ISPs.

“Horror stories starring giant Internet companies are practically universal,” she wrote. “In the wealthiest country on the planet, we lag behind many other developed nations in connectivity and speed, while also paying more for that service. That’s why companies such as Comcast consistently rank as the United States’ most hated companies by consumers.”

Warren wrote that, if elected President, she would “prohibit the range of sneaky manoeuvres that giant private providers use to unfairly squeeze out competition, hold governments hostage and drive up prices.”

Warren criticised ISPs for creating effective monopolies by muddying the regulatory environment, restricting competition and using “armies of lobbyists” to persuade state lawmakers from building public networks. In response, some local authorities – including those in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina – have rolled out their own municipal broadband services, which have been ranked as faster and cheaper than private broadband.

ISPs have been able to operate in a near-monopolistic way due to a lack of opposition from FCC chair Ajit Pai, Warren argued. Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, attracted outrage for leading the repeal of Obama-era net neutrality regulations which ensured that all internet traffic was treated alike and could not be sped up, slowed down or blocked by ISPs.

Warren has stated that she would appoint FCC commissioners who would restore net neutrality.

In her Washington Post op-ed, Warren also criticised ISPs for using more than $1bn in public funding – which was intended to support the expansion of broadband to remote areas – and failing to do more than the “bare minimum” with these resources, leaving many rural Americans without high-speed broadband access.

An FCC spokesperson characterised Warren’s op-ed as “hot air” and stated: “Under Chairman Pai’s leadership of the FCC, the digital divide has been closing, average Internet speeds have substantially increased and we’ve seen fibre deployed to more homes in a single year than any previous year in American history.”

Warren has proposed the establishment of an Office of Broadband Access which would be responsible for handing out $85bn in subsidies for electricity and telephone cooperatives, non-profits, tribes, cities, counties and other public bodies to build broadband networks offering at least 100Mbps service.

The Massachusetts Senator and former academic has risen to prominence in the crowded race for the Democratic nomination for her detailed policy proposals. These include a $2tn investment in clean energy, breaking up the tech giants which aggressively stifle competition, and an end to fossil fuel subsidies.

Now, Warren has used an op-ed in the Washington Post to criticise ISPs (including Comcast, Charter, AT&T and Verizon) and to argue that the FCC has failed to hold them to account, with Trump-appointed FCC chair Ajit Pai acting as an “effective agent” for these ISPs.

“Horror stories starring giant Internet companies are practically universal,” she wrote. “In the wealthiest country on the planet, we lag behind many other developed nations in connectivity and speed, while also paying more for that service. That’s why companies such as Comcast consistently rank as the United States’ most hated companies by consumers.”

Warren wrote that, if elected President, she would “prohibit the range of sneaky manoeuvres that giant private providers use to unfairly squeeze out competition, hold governments hostage and drive up prices.”

Warren criticised ISPs for creating effective monopolies by muddying the regulatory environment, restricting competition and using “armies of lobbyists” to persuade state lawmakers from building public networks. In response, some local authorities – including those in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina – have rolled out their own municipal broadband services, which have been ranked as faster and cheaper than private broadband.

ISPs have been able to operate in a near-monopolistic way due to a lack of opposition from FCC chair Ajit Pai, Warren argued. Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, attracted outrage for leading the repeal of Obama-era net neutrality regulations which ensured that all internet traffic was treated alike and could not be sped up, slowed down or blocked by ISPs.

Warren has stated that she would appoint FCC commissioners who would restore net neutrality.

In her Washington Post op-ed, Warren also criticised ISPs for using more than $1bn in public funding – which was intended to support the expansion of broadband to remote areas – and failing to do more than the “bare minimum” with these resources, leaving many rural Americans without high-speed broadband access.

An FCC spokesperson characterised Warren’s op-ed as “hot air” and stated: “Under Chairman Pai’s leadership of the FCC, the digital divide has been closing, average Internet speeds have substantially increased and we’ve seen fibre deployed to more homes in a single year than any previous year in American history.”

Warren has proposed the establishment of an Office of Broadband Access which would be responsible for handing out $85bn in subsidies for electricity and telephone cooperatives, non-profits, tribes, cities, counties and other public bodies to build broadband networks offering at least 100Mbps service.