6712-01 FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 47 CFR Parts 1, 8, and 20 [WC Docket No. 17-108; FCC 17-166] Restoring Internet Freedom AGENCY:
Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION
: Final rule.
SUMMARY:
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) returns to the light-touch regulatory scheme that enabled the Internet to develop and thrive for nearly two decades. The Commission restores the classification of broadband Internet access service as a lightly-regulated information service and reinstates the private mobile service classification of mobile broadband Internet access service. The
Restoring Internet Freedom Order
requires Internet service providers (ISPs) to disclose information about their network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms of service. Finding that transparency is sufficient to protect the openness of the Internet and that conduct rules have greater costs than benefits, the Order eliminates the conduct rules imposed by the
Title II Order
.
DATES:
Effective date:
[insert date 60 days after publication in the
Federal Register
], except for amendatory instructions 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8, which are delayed as follows. The FCC will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date(s) of the delayed amendatory instructions, which are contingent on OMB approval of the modified information collection requirements in 47 CFR 8.1 (amendatory instruction 5).
This document is scheduled to be published in theFederal Register on 02/22/2018 and available online at
https://federalregister.gov/d/2018-03464
, and on
FDsys.gov
2 The Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order, and Order will also be effective upon the date announced in that same document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ramesh Nagarajan, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-2582, ramesh.nagarajan@fcc.gov. For additional information concerning the Paperwork Reduction Act information collection requirements contained in this document, send an email to PRA@fcc.gov or contact
Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991
. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
This is a summary of the Commission’s Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order, and Order (“
Restoring Internet Freedom Order
”)
in WC Docket No. 17-108, adopted on December 14, 2017 and released on January 4, 2018. The full text of this document is available at https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-17-166A1.pdf. The full text is also available for public inspection during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (e.g. braille, large print, electronic files, audio format, etc.) or to request reasonable accommodations (e.g. accessible format documents, sign language interpreters, CART, etc.), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418
–
0530 (voice) or (202) 418
–
0432 (TTY). The language following the DATES caption of this preamble is provided to ensure compliance with 1 CFR 18.17.
Synopsis
In this Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order, and Order, the Commission restores the light-touch regulatory scheme tha
t fostered the Internet’s growth, openness, and
3 freedom. Through these actions, we advance our critical work to promote broadband deployment in rural America and infrastructure investment throughout the nation, brighten the future of innovation both within networks and at their edge, and move closer to the goal of eliminating the digital divide.
I. ENDING PUBLIC-UTILITY REGULATION OF THE INTERNET
1. We reinstate the information service classification of broadband Internet
access service, consistent with the Supreme Court’s holding in
Brand X
. Based on the record before us, we conclude that the best reading of the relevant definitional provisions of the Act supports classifying broadband Internet access service as an information service. Having determined that broadband Internet access service, regardless of whether offered using fixed or mobile technologies, is an information service under the Act, we also conclude that as an information service, mobile broadband Internet access service should not be classified as a commercial mobile service or its functional equivalent. We find that it is well within our legal authority to classify broadband Internet access service as an information service, and reclassification also comports with applicable law governing agency decisions to change course. While we find our legal analysis sufficient on its own to support an information service classification of broadband Internet access service, strong public policy considerations further weigh in favor of an information service classification. Below, we find that economic theory, empirical data, and even anecdotal evidence also counsel against imposing public-utility style regulation on ISPs. The broader Internet ecosystem thrived under the light-touch regulatory treatment of Title I, with massive investment and innovation by both ISPs and edge providers, leading to previously unimagined technological developments and services. We conclude that a