The Federal Communications Commission has withdrawn its notice of proposed rulemaking for a potential ban on bulk billing agreements for broadband services in housing.
The FCC cleared its docket for all items in circulation from the Biden administration on Jan. 24, including the notice for the potential bulk billing ban. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, newly appointed by President Donald Trump, announced the end of the proposal in a statement on Monday.
Carr said that a ban on bulk billing arrangements, wherein property owners and broadband companies arrange to provide exclusive service agreements at residential properties, would increase broadband prices for residents by up to 50%.
“This regulatory overreach from Washington would have hit families right in their pocketbooks at a time when they were already hurting from the last Administration’s inflationary policies,” Carr said in the statement. “That is why you saw a broad and bipartisan coalition of groups opposing the plan. After all, seniors, students, and low-income individuals would have been hit particularly hard.”
The initial ban proposal, announced by former liberal Democrat FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last March, said that these types of arrangements require tenants of a given property to pay for a certain provider’s service whether or not they used it. The proposed rule would have allowed individual tenants to opt out of bulk billing agreements.
The National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association both pushed back at the proposal at the time, stating that it would disincentivise investment in broadband access at residential properties. Both organizations joined the Washington, D.C.-based Real Estate Technology and Transformation Center to applaud its withdrawal in a January 27 statement.
Also Read: Victory or Setback? Federal Ruling Reignites Net Neutrality Debate
