San Francisco Mayor London Breed: FCC proposal would hurt SF consumers

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has spoken out against the Federal Communications Commission’s attempt to overrule a provision of a city ordinance. In a letter sent on July 2 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Breed wrote that the FCC’s proposal to preempt part of a city law that prevents landlords of multi-unit buildings from blocking tenants from accessing the internet service provider of their choice would hurt residents by reducing competition for communications services. The provision of the ordinance, known as Article 52, says property owners can’t deny internet service providers access to existing wiring within multi-unit residential and commercial buildings. It was the first such rule in the nation when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed it in 2016. The FCC has scheduled a vote on the matter for their July 10 meeting.