FCC Issues Draft NPRM on Title II Broadband Reversal, Seeks Comment on Rules

The FCC issued a draft rulemaking notice that proposes to reverse broadband Title II reclassification under the Communications Act and eliminate an internet conduct standard, as expected. It's also seeking comment on how to address open internet rules. Chairman Ajit Pai, who previewed the item in a speech Wednesday, put the draft NPRM on the tentative agenda Thursday for commissioners' May 18 meeting.

An accompanying "fact sheet" on "restoring internet freedom" said the notice would: "Propose to reinstate the information service classification of broadband Internet access service and return to the light-touch regulatory framework first established on a bipartisan basis during the Clinton Administration; propose to reinstate the determination that mobile broadband Internet access service is not a commercial mobile service and in conjunction revisit the elements of the Title II Order that modified or reinterpreted key terms in section 332 of the Communications Act and our implementing rules; propose to return authority to the Federal Trade Commission to police the privacy practices of Internet service providers; propose to eliminate the vague Internet conduct standard; seek comment on whether to keep, modify, or eliminate the bright-line rules set forth in the Title II Order; propose to re-evaluate the Commission’s enforcement regime to analyze whether ex ante regulatory intervention in the market is necessary; and propose to conduct a cost-benefit analysis as part of this proceeding."

Also on the tentative agenda are several other draft items: an NPRM proposing to eliminate a broadcast "main studio" rule, a public notice on modernizing media regulation, an NPRM proposing to eliminate a rural telco rate requirement, an NPRM to reduce fixed-satellite service regulation, and an order to amend Part 95 rules covering "personal radio" services. Pai previewed those first two media items at the NAB Show earlier this week in Las Vegas, as we previously reported.