Communications Subcommittee OKs Permanent Enhanced Transparency Waiver

The House Commerce Committee’s Communications Subcommittee approved the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act, a bill that would grant a permanent waiver to smaller Internet service providers from the Federal Communications Commission's enhanced transparency requirements under network neutrality rules. The bill defines "small businesses" eligible for the permanent waiver as 1,500 or fewer employees and 500,000 or fewer subscribers. A Democratic amendment was offered, then withdrawn, that would have sunset the waiver after five years and set the cut-off at 100,000. Another amendment with a five-year sunset and 200,000 subs cut-off was not offered.