US: Lawmakers ask FCC to postpone vote on business data reforms

Democratic and Republican lawmakers are asking the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to delay a vote on his proposal to reform the market for business data services.

Business data services refer to the high-speed data lines that hospitals, schools and companies use to transmit information quickly, connecting, for example, ATMs and cell towers.

The FCC has set price caps for these services, but Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is moving to remove those caps and other regulations. Pai says his moves will promote competition.

But Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Mike Doyle (Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on communications, voiced their concerns in a letter to Pai on Tuesday.

“In the BDS market, we need more protections for competitors and small businesses, not great market control by incumbents,” they wrote.

“We are concerned that the proposed BDS Report and Order does not adequately promote competition or apply appropriate pricing protections where competition does not exist.”

Pai’s predecessor, Tom Wheeler, had pushed for the lowering caps on data service prices to make them more affordable.

Full Content: Inside Sources

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