Rural Telecommunication Companies Ask FCC To Prevent State Unwinding of Title I Reclassification

As Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai prepares to circulate an item reversing the Title II common carrier classification of Internet service providers, expected late next week, a group of rural members of USTelecom has asked the FCC to make sure it prevents states and localities from trying to undo that good work via their own laws and regulations. The FCC voted last May, under Chairman Pai, to propose reclassifying ISPs as information services not subject to common carrier mandatory access regulations. ISPs have been suggesting the FCC will also need to preempt attempts by some states to restore the Title II classification piecemeal. In a letter to Chairman Pai and the other commissioners Nov 17, the groups said "Returning broadband service to the Title I light-touch framework that provided the foundation for the growth and success of the broadband-enabled Internet is essential to getting and keeping communities connected." But it signaled that growth and success depends on a "common sense federal framework" for "shielding" consumers from "divergent and burdensome state and local requirements" that would be roadblocks on the bridge to digital unity.