For Immediate Release
Contact:Laura Withers, (703) 351-2087, [email protected]
Arlington, Va. (April 26, 2017)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association today said clear rules are needed to promote consumer protection, universal service and an open Internet and welcomed a proposal by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to embrace a light-touch approach with respect to regulation of the broadband ecosystem.
The following statement can be attributed to NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield:
“NTCA has consistently urged clear rules of the road to ensure the seamless flow of data between users and across networks of all kinds,” Bloomfield said. “As representatives of small, rural businesses that have lived through call completion failures in recent years, we know all too well what can happen when rules aren’t clear or enforced. Although we held out some hope that the prior FCC might use Title II in a disciplined, light-touch manner merely to promote core statutory principles, this framework was unfortunately used to impose one-sided, heavy-handed regulations on broadband networks primarily for the benefit of other actors in the Internet ecosystem. We hope that the coming debate over how to reset the rules of the road will move us back toward a more productive and targeted focus on promoting consumer protection and universal service.”
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 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.