Watchdog groups say FCC broadband proposal would hurt rural areas - Entrepreneur Generations

Consumer watchdog groups have banded together to tell the Federal Communications Commission that its plan to dismantle consumer broadband protections could leave millions of rural Americans with poor or no broadband connectivity.

The FCC's proposal seeks to spur industry investment in rural areas by letting broadband carriers cut costs when updating old copper wire networks. "The groups report there are roughly 48 million U.S. residents who depend on legacy copper networks and many of these are located in rural communities with no affordable alternatives," Jason Shueh reports for State Scoop. "Within the current FCC guidelines, carriers are prohibited from discontinuing or impairing services unless there is a comparable replacement. The new rules would give AT&T, Verizon and others the right to leave residents with broadband that — in addition to slow or spotty connectivity — might be incapable of servicing devices that require reliable and persistent connections, like health monitors, alarm systems, credit card machines, hearing aid devices and even 911 calls, the letter states."


A group of 22 organizations, including Common Cause, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the California Center for Rural Policy, wrote a joint letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai decrying the proposal, saying that it will "particularly hurt rural and low-income communities where [broadband] is historically more expensive to deploy."

As evidence of their claim, the group points to Verizon's failure to replace its copper network with a wireless service in New York City's Fire Island after Hurricane Sandy in 2013. "Verizon replaced its damaged copper network on Fire Island with a fixed wireless service that did not work with a range of third-party services and couldn’t even complete 911 calls, sparking massive consumer, business, and first responder outrage," the letter says. Pai was formerly an attorney for Verizon.

The FCC is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Nov. 16.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2AIfAYP Watchdog groups say FCC broadband proposal would hurt rural areas - Entrepreneur Generations

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