The Small Business Broadband Deployment Act passed the House on Tuesday, which garnered applause from the American Cable Association. The crux is that it would exempt ISPs with fewer than 250,000 subscribers from transparency requirements that were required by the FCC’s Open Internet order − which to call contentious is probably a vast understatement. Last year, the same bill hit a wall when it went to the Senate.
Previously, the FCC had an exemption for providers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers, but that went away in December, and a Jan. 17 began to loom.
“Because the FCC’s temporary exemption for small ISPs unexpectedly expired last month, leaving small providers subject to compliance with the enhanced obligations on Jan. 17, ACA appreciates the House’s action to adopt legislation that would not only reinstate the exemption but expand it to more broadly cover small ISPs,” American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka says. “ACA was disappointed when the FCC failed to extend the exemption even though there was bipartisan agreement that the extension was appropriate and in the public interest.”
ACA further reports that FCC leaders who will form the new majority on Jan. 20 have “provided assurances that smaller providers did not have to fear ‘any adverse actions’ regarding alleged non-compliance pending the new FCC leaders’ own action to waive the compliance obligations for small ISPs.”
Not surprisingly, ACA is calling on the Senate to pass the House bill “immediately and transmit it to the White House for signing right after the president-elect has taken office.”
Filed Under: Industry regulations + certifications