Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it would not vote on a proposal to drastically increase rate regulation on business data services (BDS) providers. A group of network infrastructure providers is calling on the new administration to enact policies that benefit both businesses and consumers, especially in rural areas.
“The FCC did the right thing by not pushing this proposal through before the next administration takes office,” said Kathleen Abernathy, Executive Vice President of External Affairs, Frontier Communications. “Any proposed increased regulation of the competitive BDS market could have huge impacts on broadband investment and, as a result, on economic growth and jobs all across the country.”
Based on President-elect Trump’s statements during the 2016 campaign, it’s clear that creating jobs for American workers will be priority. Given his emphasis on jobs, the new administration should consider preserving businesses’ ability to invest in broadband in all parts of the U.S.—especially in rural areas—as an effective strategy to not only ensure that existing jobs are safe, but to help to create new ones.
The "Invest in Broadband for America" coalition (investinbroadband.org) is made up of CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL), Cincinnati Bell, Inc. (NYSE: CBB), Consolidated Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSL), FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRP) and Frontier Communications (NASDAQ: FTR).
