Statement of Commissioners Pai and O'Rielly on Protecting Small Businesses

Dec 15, the small business exemption from the Title II Net Neutrality Order’s expanded reporting requirements expired. We worked hard to reach a consensus with our Democratic colleagues that would have prevented the exemption from lapsing. Unfortunately, those efforts did not bear fruit and now thousands of our nation’s smallest and most competitive Internet service providers are worried that they will be subject to unnecessary, onerous, and ill-defined reporting obligations. This was a lost opportunity for the Commission to do the right thing. It also ignores the strong bipartisan support from the House of Representatives, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Obama Administration’s own Small Business Administration.

We note the exceptional leadership of Sens Daines (R-MT) and Manchin (D-WV), and House Commerce Chairman Walden (R-OR) on this matter. We appreciate the willingness of two of our colleagues to negotiate in good faith on a compromise. We remain committed to protecting small businesses and their customers from the higher costs and disproportionate impact that would accompany the implementation of these requirements, and we remain hopeful that a consensus exemption can still be achieved at the Commission in the months ahead in addition to reviewing the application of the overall burdens themselves.