October 27, 2020
Background: At an open Commission meeting today, the FCC adopted three items:
(1) A Report and Order to modernize the Commission’s unbundling and resale regulations, eliminating outdated requirements that stifle broadband deployment and the transition to next-generation networks;
(2) An Order on Remand addressing three discreet issues remanded to the Commission for further consideration by the D.C. Circuit in its Mozilla v. Federal Communications Commission opinion (October 2019) upholding the FCC’s 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom Order.
(3) A Report and Order to establish the 5G Fund for Rural America to ensure that all Americans have access to the next generation of wireless connectivity.
The following statements can be attributed to USTelecom president and CEO Jonathan Spalter:
Modernizing Unbundling and Resale Requirements
“The FCC – in a bipartisan way – recognized a fundamental (and indisputable) reality: today’s broadband marketplace is ultra-competitive and regulations need to recognize current realities. By removing outdated unbundling and resale requirements, the Commission has set the stage for additional facilities-based broadband competition and made good on its promise to deliver connectivity benefits for consumers and more regulatory certainty for providers – large and small, incumbent and competitor – who came together to support this common sense approach. This is a major step forward to ensure the future of our shared communications networks stay strong, resilient, innovative and ready for the connected future.”
Restoring Internet Freedom Order Remand
“The D.C. Circuit got it right when it affirmed what anyone who has been paying attention to Washington’s endless and exhausting net neutrality saga (not to mention the state of the internet in 2020) knows to be absolutely true: the internet is open, thriving and delivering for consumers with the content, capacity and innovation they demand – especially since the pandemic put unprecedented demands on our networks.
“We are pleased the FCC tackled the three issues remanded to it by the court and bolstered the 2017 order and the bipartisan policy framework that has guided the internet through 20 years of openness and extraordinary growth. At the end of the day, while the internet continues to thrive under the current federal approach, it is long past time for Congress to step in and end the regulatory rinse and repeat cycle with a strong national framework that applies to all companies, maintains our dynamic and open internet, and sustains our global digital leadership for the next generation and beyond.”
Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America
“A key predicate to bringing the transformative power of 5G to hard-to-reach rural communities is the extension of wired networks deeper into targeted rural areas where we must scale our communications infrastructure and lay lots of fiber. The approval of this major federal investment today will be critical to America’s collective 5G future and a down payment on the public/private partnerships that will transport superfast 5G traffic over our country’s wired communications networks.”