The Commission reversed a number of decisions rendered by the former administration’s FCC. Most recently, the agency voted to reverse a requirement that Charter Communications extend broadband service to one million households that are already served by a competitor, reports Reuters.
In May 2016, Charter Communications agreed to the requirement as a condition for the acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. As part of the recently passed revised agreement, Charter must add service to two million additional potential subscribers in places without existing service.
Groups representing smaller cable companies cheered the recent decision as it means they will not have to compete with the large communications company, according to Reuters. The American Cable Association lobbied the FCC to reverse the 2016 requirement, and criticized the initial decision as “stunningly bad and inexplicable government policy” that would have “devastating effects on the smaller broadband providers.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Monday the overbuild requirement was not in the public interest. “Since these one million overbuilt deployments would be credited against the total, it would substantially reduce buildout to unserved areas. This is like telling two people you will buy them lunch, ordering two entrées, and then sending both to just one of your companions.”
Charter Communications is still obligated to build out to two million new locations. The difference now is that the beneficiaries will be consumers currently “on the wrong side of the digital divide,” said the chairman.
In response to the FCC’s move to reverse the 2016 decision, a top aide to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Gigi Sohn, said the action “demonstrates once again that broadband competition is nowhere on its agenda. From its efforts to weaken privacy and Net Neutrality, to its decision refusing to designate new Lifeline providers, to its pending order that would preserve a duopoly for broadband data services, the Trump FCC once again puts incumbents first.”
April 4, 2017
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