For Immediate Release
Contact: Hillary Crowder Smith, 703-351-2086, [email protected]
Arlington, Va. (March 10, 2016)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association issued the following statement today from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield in response to the FCC’s broadband consumer privacy proposal:
“NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association represents small rural network operators committed to the communities in which they live and serve. This commitment includes secure networks and systems that protect the privacy of user data, consistent with reasonable market expectations and privacy policies. NTCA is eager to review the FCC’s proposals regarding protection of user data in a broadband environment to see if they reflect the standards captured by such market expectations and policies, and whether the proposals strike a sound balance between the benefits and burdens that may be associated with protecting specific kinds of consumer data in different ways.
“As it has noted previously in related contexts, however, NTCA observes that many content owners and other ‘edge providers’ have just as much or even greater ability and incentive to affect consumer experiences in the broadband ecosystem—and, if the FCC’s goal truly is to protect consumer data in an online world, the agency should not and cannot draw artificial and arbitrary lines that stop at the edges of networks.”
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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.