In a highly anticipated action, the Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines on March 31 to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) seeking comment on a range of privacy guidelines for broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs). FCC Chairman Wheeler, Commissioners Clyburn and Rosenworcel each voted to adopt the Notice, while Commissioners Pai and O’Rielly dissented.
Continue reading FCC Proposes a Wide Ranging Privacy Framework for Broadband ISP Customer Data
On January 29, 2016, the FCC released its 2016 Broadband Progress Report (“Report”) pursuant to Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Section 706 requires the FCC to report annually on whether advanced telecommunications capability “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion,” and to take “immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market” if the FCC determines that that it is not being deployed in this way. The Report finds that “advanced telecommunications capability is not being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” This finding comes one year after the FCC revised its standard for broadband, from 10 Mbps/1Mbps to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps. Continue reading FCC Releases 2016 Broadband Progress Report