As expected, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has implemented new rules that it says will help to prevent and eliminate discrimination in public access to broadband services.
The Commission provided details on its new rules in an extensive November Report and Order running more than 230 pages in length. In brief, the new rules:
- Directly address companies’ policies and practices if they differentially impact consumers’ access to broadband internet access service or are intended to do so;
- Apply these protections to ensure communities see equitable broadband deployment, network upgrades, and maintenance;
- Investigate possible instances of discrimination of broadband access, work to solve and, when necessary, penalize companies for failing to meet the obligations defined in the rules;
- Review consumer complaints of digital discrimination through an improved consumer complaint portal; and
- Help protect both current and prospective subscribers to a broadband internet service.
The Report and Order also includes several in-depth appendices providing detailed background on the Commission’s position, along with lengthy statements by each of the FCC Commissioners regarding the new rules.
