For Immediate Release
Contact: Hillary Crowder, 703-351-2086, [email protected]
Arlington, Va. ( February 4, 2015)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association today issued the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield regarding FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposed network neutrality rules:
“NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association has long advocated—and Chairman Wheeler has previously articulated—that core principles such as protecting consumers, promoting competition and ensuring universal service must remain the touchstones of any new regulatory reforms or initiatives going forward. We are still reviewing the information made available by the FCC thus far, and it will be important to get a better sense of the details of the chairman’s proposal in coming days. NTCA is particularly hopeful that the details of the proposal will reveal both a measured approach to continuing debates about how to update and sustain universal service in a broadband world—rather than foreclosing such debates—and greater attention to the broader set of interconnection challenges that can undermine consumer expectations with respect to broadband.”
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 900 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs. In an era of exploding technology, deregulation and marketplace competition, NTCA’s members are leading the IP evolution for rural consumers, delivering technologies that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. Because of their efforts, rural America is fertile ground for innovation in economic development and commerce, education, health care, government services, security and smart energy use. Visit us at www.ntca.org.