NCTA: FCC Needs To Rethink Network Neutrality Compliance Burden

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has told the Federal Communications Commission and the Office of Management and Budget that the FCC has significantly underestimated the time and money it will take to comply with the transparency and complaint procedures it adopted in its Open Internet order (network neutrality rules).

OMB is vetting the paperwork-collection requirements to make sure they do not run afoul of Congress's Paperwork Reduction Act mandate to keep bureaucratic tree-killing to a minimum. NCTA has asked for changes in those requirements, which could delay that effective date even more. The FCC, when it approved the rules back in December, said it expected the costs of compliance with new rules on transparency, blocking and unreasonable discrimination to be "small" since the principles are in line with current practice. NCTA says the open-ended rules mean costs and paperwork could be far greater, and wants the FCC to rethink its estimates so that OMB has a better idea of the burden, or amend its requirements.