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Net Neutrality Order Said To Hurt Small Edge Providers

The FCC’s net neutrality order will hurt small edge providers despite the agency’s contention otherwise in a footnote in the order, NERA Economic Consulting said in a paper Wednesday. CALinnovates commissioned NERA to do a paper on the economic ramification…

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of classifying broadband under Communications Act Title II and submitted it as part of the group’s comments in the net neutrality proceeding, the statement said. The agency said it disagreed with the initial paper’s findings, saying it didn't take into account forbearances in the order. “Simply forbearing from selected sections of Title II does not reverse our findings, nor does the FCC provide any evidence that it should,” NERA said in Wednesday's paper. “If anything, we understated the effects this Order has on innovation as it inserts regulatory uncertainty well beyond [that] already contained in Title II.” The order “implements a far-reaching regulatory scheme that is beyond (in many ways) what we envisioned,” the firm said. Among other things, the scope of the order is unclear, because the meaning of terms “broadband Internet access service” and “reasonable network management” will be up for debate, bringing regulatory uncertainty.