Last year, the U.S. Congress requested that the Federal Communications Commission craft a National Broadband Plan to address our nation’s failure to bring fast, affordable broadband to all U.S. residents.. In order to implement that plan and achieve the goals set out by Congress, the Commission has proposed changing its legal framework for making broadband policy. In technical terms, it proposes classifying broadband as a “telecommunications” service under the Communications Act of 1934, a change from its current designation as an “information” service under the Act. This move is a critical first step in implementing the National Broadband Plan, restoring the United States as a global broadband leader, ending the digital divide, and protecting consumers.
Classifying broadband as a “telecommunications” service under Title II of the Communications Act ensures that the Federal Communications Commission, tasked with developing national communications policy by Congress, has the authority to oversee the most critical communications medium of our time.
Failure to restore this authority could nullify any FCC efforts to bring broadband to all U.S. consumers. It would force the agency to engage in endless litigation to implement basic broadband policies for which there is nearly universal consensus.
Click here to read the full fact sheet for the issue.
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