Agencies
The FCC has adequate authority under Title I of the Communications Act to reconfigure the Universal Service Fund to pay for broadband, without reclassifying broadband as a Title II service, AT&T said. “There can be no dispute that the commission can fund some broadband Internet service providers,” the telco said in a white paper. Commission precedent gives providers the option of offering “retail consumers solely an integrated service that inextricably intertwines broadband transmission with Internet access service,” or offering broadband transmission service as a telecom service under Title II, which can be used “as an input to retail service,” it said. The FCC can support providers who select either option because it’s authorized “to perform any and all acts, make such rules and regulations, and issue such orders … as may be necessary in the execution of its functions,” the telco cited from the Communications Act.
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The FCC must ensure net neutrality rules don’t work against the growth of minority communities and businesses, said chambers of commerce leaders during a teleconference. Incentives, not regulations, are needed to “ensure that broadband technology continues to reach and benefit the Hispanic community and other communities in the U.S.,” said U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Javier Palomarez. Broadband creates high-paying jobs that are key to growing the American economy, he said: “Regulation has the potential to interfere with adoption and expansion.” Small minority-owned businesses must be included in broadband expansion, speakers said. “Broadband takes a mom and pop, turns it into a medium-size business, and creates jobs along the way,” said National Black Chamber of Commerce President Harry Alford. “Invasive network regulations stagnate the expansion of broadband infrastructure which is needed to meet the growing needs of small businesses in an increasingly interconnected world,” said President Justin Nelson of the National Gay and Lesbian chamber.