The Federal Communications Commission should still assess broadband affordability and adoption as part of its annual report on deployment, consumer advocates told the agency.
The FCC is set to vote Thursday on a notice of inquiry that would kick off its annual report on whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” The agency last year under Democratic chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel assessed affordability and adoption as part of the report, which the public draft of the notice would propose to scrap.
The public draft of the inquiry said that section 706 of the Communications Act, which mandates the report, only calls for assessing incremental infrastructure deployment and that the other inquiries, which FCC Chairman Brendan Carr criticized at the time, were unnecessary. Representatives from Public Knowledge, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and X-Lab met last week with staff from the offices of commissioners Olivia Trusty and Anna Gomez to urge against the move.
Blandin on Broadband
News and information on broadband use, policy, and trends
