Pai Tells Loebsack He Pursued Small ISP Transparency Exemption Deal With Clyburn
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he sought a deal with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on an alternative framework for exempting small ISPs from open internet enhanced transparency requirements. Pai was responding to a letter from Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, who voiced…
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disappointment the FCC didn't consult with the congressman before circulating a draft order to exempt ISPs with 250,000 or fewer subscribers from the duties (see 1702140060 and 1701270058). Pai said he previously sought a bipartisan compromise and modeled his small-provider exemption order on Loebsack's Small Business Broadband Deployment Act, in an April 3 letter posted Monday in docket No. 17-18. "After I received your letter, I reached out to my colleague yet again to determine whether an alternative compromise would be amenable to her," Pai wrote in reference to Clyburn. "Unfortunately, my compromise proposal was rejected. Nonetheless, our action will help the nation's small Internet service providers better serve their communities, like the ones you mentioned in your home state." The FCC approved the exemption order 2-1 Feb. 23 over the dissent of Clyburn, who said there was no analysis to support raising the small-provider exemption level from 100,000 to 250,000 subscribers.