CTIA Urges FCC Action on Open Internet Small-Carrier Exemption
CTIA urged the FCC to make permanent an exemption for small businesses of the enhanced transparency requirements in the 2015 net neutrality rules. The current exemption is set to expire Dec. 15. “As our comments in this proceeding noted, the…
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enhanced transparency rules are unnecessary and unduly burdensome for all broadband providers, and particularly burdensome for smaller providers, many of which lack the monetary and/or staff resources to comply with complex disclosure requirements that will not provide any benefit to smaller providers’ customers,” CTIA said in a filing in docket 14-28. It said the agency should adopt “a more realistic definition of the small business entities to which the exemption would apply. Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated an item on the exemption Oct. 25. CTIA noted that the FCC’s definition isn’t consistent with other definitions of small provider. The commission offers the exemption for providers with 100,000 or fewer broadband connections, as measured by a providers’ most recent Form 477, CTIA noted. In comparison, the Small Business Administration defines a small telecom carrier as either a nondominant carrier with fewer than 1,500 employees or one with 500,000 or fewer subscribers, the association said. Wheeler circulated an order and Further NPRM consistent with his commitment to let the full commission decide on any permanent extension, an FCC official said Monday.