Possible FCC Telecom Deregulation in Biennial Review Draws Mixed Replies
Parties offered a jumble of views on possible telecom deregulation in biennial review reply comments posted Tuesday and Wednesday in various dockets, including 16-132. Wireline and wireless telcos and others generally proposed the commission repeal numerous rules in initial comments (see 1612060072). Republican Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly, who will gain the majority under incoming President Donald Trump, have voiced enthusiasm for clearing what they term "regulatory underbrush," raising the profile of the proceeding (see 1612070040 and 1611030042).
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Frontier Communications credited Pai and O'Rielly with recognizing "the disproportionate regulatory burdens" heaped on incumbent telcos, saying the "removal of those burdens is long overdue." The FCC must repeal or modify regulations it determines are no longer necessary, Frontier said. "No one seriously contends ‘incumbent’ local exchange carriers have any power in the voice market -- the underlying basis for the extensive disparate regulation of ILECs," the telco said. Communications Act Title II common carrier regulation is a relic of a "bygone era," Frontier said, urging the commission to repeal such regulation "at least to the same extent" that it did in forbearing from applying it to broadband. It backed "common sense updates" to eliminate tariffing, "duplicative" Part 32 accounting rules, and wholesale unbundled network element discount duties, while urging steps to "incentivize next-generation deployments," including through copper retirement relief, and to ensure proper USF subsidy support for price-cap carriers.
The FCC "must take a hard look at regulations that can no longer be justified” and act with dispatch, said the Free State Foundation, praising Pai's comments at a December FSF event to "fire up the weed whacker" to remove regulatory underbrush. To implement the "deregulatory intent" of Congress in Section 11 of the 1996 Telecom Act, the group said the commission should establish a new rebuttable presumption: “Absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, the Commission shall presume that regulations under review are no longer necessary in the public interest as a result of meaningful competition among providers of such service.”
Others recognized the review's usefulness but were skeptical of sweeping deregulation. "The Biennial Review provides the opportunity for the Commission to tidy up outdated regulations, streamline its procedures, and harmonize regulations which govern similar services," said Public Knowledge, Common Cause and New America's Open Technology Institute. "It does not, as some commenters appear to believe, represent open season for dominant industries to attack Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Based on the record, it appears that large telecom providers and their trade associations view this proceeding as a vehicle to circumvent the Commission’s regular rulemaking process in order to subvert the Commission’s core mission of protecting consumers, promoting competition, and ensuring universal service.”
Incompas said some sought targeted deregulation, but others "urge a wholesale repeal of rules and policies that are essential to enabling competitive options for small businesses and consumers." It supported reducing regulation where appropriate, but rejected "rolling back the regulatory protections that have enabled competitive retail solutions in the communications marketplace and that are still needed to ensure that consumers and business of all sizes have competitive options." BT Americas, Granite Telecommunications, New Century Cities, Sprint, and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition voiced similar concerns about overly broad deregulation, though some cited areas where relief or changes were justified.
Others offered mixed assessments and urged thoughtful review and balanced action. NCTA said it agreed with ILECs that competition for retail voice services "has substantially reduced the need" for related regulation. "However, the Commission must take care not to undermine the foundation on which that competition rests," the cable group said. "While some of the issues raised by the ILECs are the type of 'regulatory underbrush' that the biennial review was designed to identify and repeal, the comments also raise many issues that potentially have consequences for every voice service provider in the country and therefore require careful analysis before any changes are made.”
The American Cable Association, Competitive Carriers Association, T-Mobile and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association urged repealing or revising numerous rules, combined with varying degrees of restraint and continued regulation.