Small Business Group Scolds FCC for Resuscitating Wasteful Title II Regulation at the Expense of Connectivity-for-All and Pro-Investment Policy

By SBE Council at 19 October, 2023, 12:41 pm

NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C. – In response to the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC’s) unfortunate and wasteful decision to resuscitate inappropriate, needless and excessive “net neutrality” burdens and red tape on the broadband internet, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) president & CEO Karen Kerrigan issued the following statement. The Commission affirmatively voted to advance a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that aims to impose Title II government controls on the internet.

“Thankfully, unlike our European counterparts and other countries throughout the world, connectivity for U.S. small businesses was robust and seamless during the mass-digital adoption period propelled by COVID-19 lockdowns. That outcome was the result of massive private sector investment and exceptional network management by providers, not through government edicts or controls. It was, and continues to be, the result of replacing ‘net neutrality’ regulatory uncertainties with internet freedom, restored by former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

“America’s economy and its small businesses will need even more robust and enhanced connectivity in order to use the vast array of new and forthcoming digital tools and virtual ecosystems that offer exciting opportunities for entrepreneurs, their firms and employees.  The growing use of immersive technologies, AI tools, and the early metaverse require ever-increasing investment and more spectrum to meet exploding online demand and capacity requirements. This will not happen with government control of the internet, which is what the FCC affirmatively advanced in their vote today.

“The first order of business for the FCC should be to help connect all Americans to the digital economy, which the agency has the authority to influence and get done through various tools provided by Congress. Instead, a majority of FCC commissioners voted to waste the agency’s time and energy on a useless and costly regulatory path that will dry up investment, embolden our international competitors, and put all U.S. businesses at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, small internet service providers (ISPs) will be crushed by Title II regulation, which means competition, rural communities, jobs, broadband deployment, and connectivity will all suffer.”

“Sadly, the FCC is communicating false and misleading information in order to push economically harmful Title II control. In the end, we believe the FCC will fail – again – in these efforts to strangle the broadband internet. But the ultimate demise of this reborn and re-branded Title II regulatory escapade will be lengthy and costly, which means our economy, entrepreneurs, taxpayers, innovation and U.S. leadership will suffer. SBE Council looks forward to working with our allies and friends in the Congress on holding the FCC accountable for its misdirected and wasteful use of taxpayer resources. SBE Council also thanks Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington for opposing the Title II regulatory proposal. They accurately conveyed the valid facts about the positive state of U.S. broadband, the real harms posed by the Title II proposal, and that the frightening and imaginary outcomes used by ‘net neutrality’ cheerleaders in the past never came to pass. We fully anticipate these shameless doomsayers will be back again with their fantastical and outrageous rhetoric and claims.”

Resource Rewind:

Internet Freedom: One Year Later…Thanks to FCC Action, the Internet is Better Than Ever, June 2019.

Entrepreneur’s Group Applauds Court Decision Affirming “FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order,” October 2019.

Restoring Internet Freedom Will Restore Robust Investment and Entrepreneurship, May 2017

FCC Chairman Pai Seeks to Restore Internet Freedom, Small Business Insider, April 2017.

Restoring Internet Freedom Will Boost Small Business Access to Broadband, Next Gen Innovation, April 2017.  

FCC’s Comments on Restoring Internet Freedom (SBE Council Comments), July 2017.

4 Reasons Why Restoring Internet Freedom is Good for Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses, December 2017.

CONTACT:

KAREN KERRIGAN, kkerrigan@sbecouncil.org

RAYMOND KEATING: rkeating@sbecouncil.org

SBE Council is a nonpartisan advocacy, research and education organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For nearly 30 years, SBE Council has worked on and advanced a range of private sector and public policy initiatives to strengthen the ecosystem for strong startup activity and small business growth.

Visit www.sbecouncil.org for additional information. Twitter: @SBECouncil

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