Page 10 - BFAAM Fall/Winter 2023

HOW THE FCC’S REGULATORY OVERREACH IMPEDES INTERNET FOR ALL
MATT FURLOW
U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Closing the digital divide is a top priority for many policymakers and the private sector. Understandably so given that an internet con- nection is essential for modern life including work, school, healthcare, banking, and com-
munication. However, achieving this important goal is hampered by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) regulatory overreach that micromanages the broadband marketplace.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FCC’S LATEST ACTIONS
The FCC is pursuing two major rulemakings that significantly and adversely impact the broadband marketplace and Americans’ abil- ity to get online.
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parate impact standard where a business can be held liable for legitimate business and deployment decisions even if they did not intend to discriminate.
Title II Reclassification: Reclassification would cause broadband to be regulated under the same 1930s-era public utility framework for legacy telephone networks. If upheld, it would allow the FCC to exercise extraordinary powers over nearly every aspect of broadband and empower the FCC to pick and choose which sections of Title II to apply to broadband—making the Commission a de facto legis- lator.
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Digital Discrimination: This rulemaking seeks to ad- dress alleged digital discrimination in the broadband mar- ketplace and to ensure equal access to broadband across income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, and national origin. While everyone opposes intentional discrimination, the FCC embraced a legally questionable and onerous dis-
HOW RULES UPEND LONG-STANDING CONSENSUS ON COMMUNICATIONS POLICY
Both rulemakings are expansive and upend the long-standing communications policy in the U.S. of light-touch regulation and targeted federal investments to support broadband deployment and affordability.
• Title II reclassification would impose utility style regula- tions on the broadband industry and place every internet service provider under a regulatory microscope as opposed to the decades-long bipartisan framework which allowed
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