Chairman Pai's Response to Sen Markey and Rep Doyle Regarding Business Data Services

On April 18, 2017, Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep Mike Doyle (D-PA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to postpone the vote on the Business Data Services (BDS) Report and Order that was scheduled for a vote at the April 20, 2017 FCC meeting.

On July 17, Chairman Pai responded by saying, "In your letter, you suggest additional protections for small businesses and the need for a reasonable transition as well as a delay of the Commission's vote. Although the Commission was unable to accommodate your every request, I note that the Commission did deny incumbent carriers a catch-up adjustment to their existing rates in non-competitive areas and implemented a staged transition: In newly deregulated areas, price-cap carriers cannot raise their tariffed rates for special access services for a period of six months and have three years to transition to de-tariff their services. The Commission also emphasized that incumbents may not use the de-tariffng process to disturb existing contractual or other long-term arrangements-a contract tariff remains a contract even if it is no longer tariffed. Finally, the Commission adopted downward pricing flexibility in still regulated areas to ensure that small businesses in rural America have the opportunity to receive the same discounts now available in urban areas."