For Immediate Release
Contact: Ted Hearn
(202) 713-0826
[email protected]
PITTSBURGH, April 3, 2020 – ACA Connects President and CEO Matthew M. Polka issued the following statement in connection with the Federal Communications Commission Media Bureau’s release of an order extending to December 20, 2020, the effective date of truth-in-billing requirements enacted as part of the Television Viewer Protection Act:
“ACA Connects welcomes the FCC Media Bureau’s decision today to extend by six months the deadline for compliance with new truth-in-billing requirements for MVPDs and broadband providers enacted last year as part of the Television Viewer Protection Act.
“As ACA Connects explained in a joint filing with NCTA and USTelecom, our members would have been hard-pressed to obtain necessary software upgrades from their billing vendors in time to meet the original June deadline, even in the absence of COVID-19.
“The pandemic has introduced additional challenges in meeting the deadline. We therefore applaud the FCC and the Bureau for exercising the agency’s authority under the statute to extend the deadline by six months and to do so on an accelerated timeframe.
“This action will enable ACA Connects members to immediately redirect all necessary resources to keeping their customers online, their networks running, and their employees and others safe during this unprecedented crisis.”
About ACA Connects: America’s Communications Association – Based in Pittsburgh, ACA Connects is a trade organization representing more than 700 smaller and medium-sized, independent companies that provide broadband, phone and video services to nearly 8 million customers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA Connects’ members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their businesses. For more information, visit: https://acaconnects.org/