June 7, 2024—ACA Connects filed comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Economics and Analytics request for comment on the state of competition in the communications marketplace to help inform the FCC’s biannual Communications Marketplace Report.
Fixed Broadband Has Thrived, the FCC Must Not Stifle Success
ACA Connects explained that broadband investment and competition has soared under the FCC’s balanced regulatory regime but that is now in jeopardy because of the FCC’s adoption of unnecessary and unreasonable regulations.
“We again submitted market facts to the FCC demonstrating that broadband competition has become even more intense. America’s small and independent providers are delivering faster and affordable services to their customers under a light-touch regulatory environment. The success of broadband is due in no small part to the FCC understanding until now that balanced regulations foster investment,” said President and CEO of ACA Connects Grant Spellmeyer. “However, actions by the current FCC over the past year will only act as a drag on broadband growth, innovation, and competition. It needs to reverse course.”
ACA Connects included the following charts and data points (including ones in partnership with the business consulting firm Cartesian) as evidence of a competitive marketplace that is in jeopardy if FCC slows investment, growth, and innovation.
Under balanced regulation, Americans have more options for high-speed broadband:
To meet consumer demands and compete, fixed providers are deploying a variety of different technologies:
Prices are more affordable and speeds are up:
Investment is increasing:
The Broken Video Market Disproportionately Harms Small and Rural MVPDS
In addition to addressing broadband competition, ACA Connects submitted comments in this filing urging the FCC to abandon mandates disproportionally harming small and rural MVPDs. The Commission should instead address the root causes of the broken multichannel video market, including with retransmission consent reforms.
The filing states, “New Commission regulations adopted or proposed for cable video service have only made the situation worse. As smaller cable operators face the prospect of devoting their scarce resources to comply with costly new mandates, they are increasingly likely to consider extricating themselves from the cable business altogether.”
FCC Comments re Office of Economics and Analytics Seeks Comment on the State of Competition in the Communications Marketplace
Published June 6, 2024
About ACA Connects: America’s Communications Association –America’s Communications Association – ACA Connects is a trade organization representing more than 500 smaller and medium-sized, independent companies that provide broadband, video, and phone services covering 31.9 million households, 7.3 million of which are located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. ACA Connects Members operate in every state, providing advanced communications to connect homes, companies, main street, schools, hospitals and more. America’s economic prosperity in smaller communities and rural areas depends on the growth and success of ACA Connects Members, who believe a connected nation is a prosperous nation.