TIA commissions CSMG to complete economic study filed with the FCC

Source: Telecompaper Americas

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has filed comments, accompanied by an economic study, with the FCC, urging it to maintain the current, long-standing regulatory status of broadband internet access service. TIA believes that FCC chairman Julius Genachowski's proposal to reclassify broadband under a new regulatory regime would imperil American jobs as manufacturers face an uncertain regulatory climate, dampening investment in an industry that has been tapped by president Obama and Congress as a driver for economic recovery. US global competitiveness would suffer, as would American consumers of broadband services and broadband-enabled technologies.

TIA noted that the broadband marketplace has greatly benefitted from the Commission's current, longstanding regulatory approach to broadband internet access service as an "information service." TIA commissioned an independent study by Cambridge Strategic Management Group on the impact of prospective FCC regulations on operator investment decisions. The study, filed publicly with the Commission, underscores the potentially significant economic impact of the increased regulation contemplated in this proceeding. The study found that expanded regulations, particularly the risk that the NOI could lead to greater Title II regulation than currently proposed, would lead to a significant financial impact that would limit broadband deployment. TIA believes that Title I and provisions of Title II continue to provide the Commission with sufficient authority to effectuate important broadband policy, and that the "information services" classification accurately reflects the technical characteristics of broadband internet access service, which is well settled to be an integrated information service.