For Immediate Release
Contact: Hillary Crowder Smith, [email protected], 703-351-2086
Arlington, Va. (April 15, 2016)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association issued the following statement today from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield regarding President Barack Obama’s statement in reference to the FCC’s set-top box proposal:
“While it always attracts attention when the White House weighs in on any issue, the President’s comments today about video competition and set-top box mandates should neither affect nor influence the ongoing debate. The decisions to be made are legal, technical, and economic—not political. In particular, an independent expert agency, the FCC, must decide based upon the law and the facts whether the Communications Act in fact mandates technical changes to set-top box configurations, whether such changes can be implemented without undermining legal protections afforded to content, whether such a mandate is in fact technically feasible given the technology standards to do so do not exist today, and whether the costs associated with implementing a technology mandate of this kind are reasonable and outweighed by the benefits of such a mandate.
“This should not be a decision that turns on the politics of a particular constituency or any one entity’s outsized political voice. The ultimate decision here must turn instead on the law and the facts, and NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association hopes that will be the case as the debate begins in earnest at the commission.”
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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.