CWA Members Pan FCC BDS Proposal

The Communications Workers of America has made its opposition to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler's business data services (BDS) proposal, currently circulating among the other commissioners for a vote. That came in petitions, over 7,000 of them, delivered to the FCC from CWA members. The petitioners say they oppose the BDS revamp because the FCC proposal favors nonunion companies including Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon at the expense of companies that invest billions in their high-speed networks. CWA says the proposal will "radically cut rates for some elements of business data services," which will have "a devastating effect on investment needed for broadband expansion, especially in rural areas.” That, said the union, would result in less investment in fiber deployment, job cuts, and declining living standards for its workers.