Today: FCC Internet Freedom Published, FCC Releases Broadband Map  

FCC Internet Freedom Published

The FCC’s Internet Freedom Order overturning its earlier net neutrality/Open Internet Order was published in today’s Federal Register. Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 2/13/18.   However, the substantive provisions of the order, including the repeal of the existing net neutrality/open Internet rules and the revised transparency rule will not be effective until after Office of Management and Budget approval is obtained and an effective date is published in the Federal Register.  The publication does, however, establish an April 23, 2018 effective date for certain non-substantive portions of the Order.  This date will, in turn, start the clock running to the court house for those seeking to have the decision overturned.  Publication will also start the clock for an expected attempt to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning the decision and prohibiting the FCC from adopting similar rules in the future.  Although proponents of the CRA resolution have already obtained support from 50 Senators and 110 House members, they are considered unlikely to pass.  However, would-be appellees are already lining up to get to the court house and a long list of industry members, consumer groups, and states are expected to file appeals.

In response to the publication, FCC Commissioner Clyburn issued a statement saying: “Today it is official: the FCC majority has taken the next step in handing the keys to the internet over to billion-dollar broadband providers by publishing the Destroying Internet Freedom Order in the Federal Register.  I am both disappointed and hopeful.  Disappointed that this is one more anti-consumer notch on this FCC’s belt, but hopeful that the arc of history is bent in favor of net neutrality protections.  Whether it is litigation, state action, or some other mechanism that brings it about, I am sure that robust net neutrality protections will prevail with the American public!”

Similarly, Commissioner Rosenworcel said:  “The FCC’s net neutrality decision is a study in just what’s wrong with Washington.  This agency failed the American public.  It failed to listen to their concerns and gave short shrift to their deeply held belief that internet openness should remain the law of the land.  It turned a blind eye to all kinds of corruption in our public record—from Russian intervention to fake comments to stolen identities in our files.  As a result of the mess the agency created, broadband providers will now have the power to block websites, throttle services, and censor online content.  This is not right.  The FCC is on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of the law and it deserves to have its handiwork revisited, reexamined, and ultimately reversed.”

FCC Releases Broadband Map

The FCC announced the release of an updated and modernized National Broadband Map.  Improvements and features in the new National Broadband Map include:

• Fixed deployment data based on the latest collection by the FCC and updated twice annually.
• Deployment summaries available for seven different geographical types: nation, state, county, congressional district, city or town (census place), Tribal area, and Core -based Statistical Area (such as New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ-PA).
• Broadband availability and provider counts in each of the nation’s over 11 million census blocks, available for six technologies (fiber, DSL, cable, satellite, fixed wireless, and other) as well as seven speeds, for a total of 441 combinations.
• Provider summary information available for 1,782 providers by technology, eight download speed tiers, and nine upload speed tiers.
• Deployment comparisons between geographic areas.
• A portal for data downloads.
• Satellite imagery map overlay that shows buildings, roads, and geography.
• Graphs that show what fraction of an area’s population has access to broadband at a given speed.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s daily blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.