OTI Urges FCC to Set Conduct Standards for ISPs, Improve Broadband Service Transparency, and Empower States to Build on FCC Protections

Yesterday, OTI filed reply comments urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reclassify broadband internet access as a Title II service and to set conduct standards that prohibit ISPs from engaging in discriminatory behavior, improve broadband service transparency and disclosure to better inform consumers, and empower states to build on FCC protections to further protect broadband consumers. These reply comments build on OTI’s previously filed comments in this proceeding.

The FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “In the Matter of Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet,” proposes to re-establish the FCC’s authority over broadband internet access service (“BIAS”) by classifying it as a telecommunications service and to reinstate rules established in the 2015 Open Internet Order.

OTI supports this endeavor and urges the FCC in its reply comments, specifically, to (1) reinstate conduct standards and rules to prevent any ISP discriminatory practices such as blocking, throttling, and engaging in paid or affiliated prioritization in order to protect BIAS services used to facilitate public safety services and communications; (2) only preempt state and local laws that provide less protection for consumers than rules established by the FCC; (3) restore greater transparency and disclosure requirements and enhance broadband labels by requiring the inclusion of information regarding real-world cost and relevant performance; (4) clearly define zero-rating practices that should be presumptively prohibited such as zero-rating in exchange for commercial advantages and zero-rating some content, applications, and services but not the entire category; and (5) narrow and clarify the definition of “non-BIAS data services” that are exempt from open internet regulation.

The following can be attributed to Raza Panjwani, Senior Policy Counsel at OTI:

“Internet Service Providers have spent more than twenty years resisting the basic and uncontroversial proposition that they shouldn’t be able to meddle with Americans’ internet connections. Today, broadband internet access is too fundamental and too important not to apply strong oversight and protections. That means acknowledging the importance to public safety and the role states can play in enforcing open internet rules and consumer protection laws. It means demanding meaningful transparency and disclosures to consumers. By re-establishing its authority to regulate the industry, the FCC can provide that oversight, establish baseline rules, and begin addressing a range of issues from easing deployment, to bolstering resilience, to enhancing privacy. The comments on the record clearly support those efforts, and we look forward to the FCC adopting strong rules.”

The following can be attributed to Michael Calabrese, Director of Wireless Future Project at OTI:

“It is vital that the FCC restore strong network neutrality protections and update them to align with the pro-consumer laws enacted by the State of California and the European Union. The FCC should adopt a bright-line rule that prohibits discriminatory or anti-competitive forms of zero-rating. The agency should also update its definition of data services that are exempt from the open internet rules to ensure mobile carriers are subject to the same rules as every other provider. Reinstating and updating the FCC’s authority will protect consumers and ensure that the public interest—not profit motives—remain paramount to broadband internet service providers.”