FCC steps back from broadband regulation, steps on local government

21 April 2017 by Steve Blum
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The weed whacker was whirling at full tilt yesterday as the Federal Communications Commission decided to take on local limits on cell sites and utility poles, and roll back regulation of wholesale broadband services. The voting was largely bipartisan. Democrat Mignon Clyburn concurred with republicans Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly on opening two major enquiries, one on whether wireless permit shot clocks should be given deemed granted teeth when they expire and the other on a range of wireline issues, including limits on how long local governments can take to review construction permits and how much they can charge. Pole attachment procedures and rules regarding replacing legacy analog voice service with Internet protocol technology are also open for comment.

Clyburn dissented, though, on backing away from common carrier-style regulation of middle mile and other wholesale broadband service. She particularly objected to the word games the decision plays with its definition of effective competition…

In the rush to deregulate, the leadership, providing as much notice as a run-away train, opts to adopt a framework that relies on faulty data and lackadaisical market analysis to come up with an ineffectual competitive market test, calibrated to deregulate as broadly as possible. The order upends decades of competition analysis, by defining a particular market as competitive when there is only one provider in a market and the mere possibility of a second entrant. Unfortunately, this is not a “typo.” The mere presence of a second nearby potential business data service provider that is located a half a mile away is deemed a competitor whether they plan to serve an area or not.

The wholesale service decision was in fact a decision – that’s done and dusted. The wireless and wireline infrastructure items, on the other hand, were just opening shots. Draft versions were published, and there’s no indication of major changes. Once the final texts are published, there will be ample opportunity to comment. Whether anyone will hear you over the whine of the weed whacker is another question altogether.