The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted new rules aiming to prevent what it terms digital discrimination in access to broadband services, but the move has drawn skepticism from the industry.
The new rules, approved on Nov. 15, aim to ensure that all Americans have equal access to reliable and high-speed broadband services without discrimination based on income level, race, and other protected classes.
They would allow the FCC to investigate possible instances of discrimination of broadband access and, when necessary, penalize companies that impede equal connectivity “without adequate justification.”
The FCC defines digital discrimination as “policies or practices” that “differentially impact” consumers’ broadband access without providing “genuine issues of technical or economic feasibility.”
“As the law requires, the FCC will consider arguments that legitimate business impediments preclude equal access to broadband service in particular communities,” the agency added.
In a statement following the FCC’s approval, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said the rules will help to “protect civil rights, lower costs, and increase internet access for Americans across the country.”
“One provision of our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that President Biden signed exactly two years ago directed the Federal Communications Commission to create first-of-its-kind rules to prevent digital discrimination.
“Today, the FCC answered our call by voting to adopt these necessary rules, taking a critical step to prohibit digital discrimination in high-speed internet access based on income, race, ethnicity, religion, and national origin,” she said.
There is still no clear standard for tracking so-called inequities in the provision of digital services.
New Rules Are ‘Impossible to Administer’
However, the telecommunications industry has opposed the framework, arguing that the policy would hamper investment in communities by requiring regulations that the industry says are unnecessary.The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) has criticized the FCC for seeking “expansive new authority over virtually every aspect of the broadband marketplace.”
“In combining the tremendous scope of these rules with the improper adoption of a disparate impact standard (one that includes income as a protected class), the FCC has manufactured an environment that makes standard business practices – from credit checks to uniform pricing to deposits for equipment – potentially unlawful,” NCTA said in a statement.
“Many, if not most, long-standing, uniform business practices could be seen to have differential impacts on consumers with different income levels.
“The FCC’s regulatory overreach will prove impossible to administer and impossible to comply with,” it added.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said on Nov. 6 that the new rules would give the federal government “a roving mandate to micromanage nearly every aspect of how the internet functions.”
“The FCC reserves the right under this plan to regulate both ‘actions and omissions, whether recurring or a single instance’.
“In other words, if you take any action, you may be liable, and if you do nothing, you may be liable. There is no path to complying with this standardless regime,” he added.
The Citizens Against Government Waste, a non-profit organization, said the new rules will have “a negative impact” on broadband providers, regardless of size and scope of their services, and their customers.
“With this order, the FCC is making it not only unattractive for providers to apply for funding and build infrastructure in these communities, but also creating an environment where potential providers will find it untenable to offer service to those communities,” it stated.
