FCC Must Consider Minorities In New Policies

ATLANTA, GA – In a letter released today, the Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE) expressed concerns regarding further inquiry by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into proposals to apply new rules to wireless broadband offerings and limit access to specialized services, and urged the FCC to consider how Internet policies will affect minority and low-income Americans.
“In the wake of an election cycle where voters clearly demonstrated their desire to be heard by those inside the beltway, the FCC’s actions seem to indicate the Commission is still considering unnecessary regulations that most agree will have damaging consequences for the future of the Internet,” said ADE Chairman Julius H. Hollis. “This is of particular concern right now, when we feel that the FCC’s primary focus should be fulfilling the National Broadband Plan to achieve universal access – something that will deliver real results that our communities need right now and can be achieved under existing authority without any additional regulation.”

In the letter, ADE expressed particular concern regarding how misguided policies could negatively affect positive trends in the wireless space and applauded a recent MMTC filing that echoed this concern. Studies have shown that an increasing number of minority Americans are getting online with the help of affordable tools like netbooks and smartphones, making mobile broadband a key player in keeping inner-city and rural neighborhoods from being left behind in the digital revolution. This is a trend ADE would like to see continue.

ADE also urged that the focus should be on job creation, expanding small businesses and creating a regulatory environment that incentivizes private investment that will enable us to drive forward, saying that “the principles laid out in the National Broadband Plan lay the necessary framework for the FCC to achieve these goals under existing authority – however, the entire net neutrality debate serves as a distraction that draws away invaluable time and energy.”

“We sometimes take for granted the digital revolution of the last two decades; the distance we've traveled and the progress America has made. And it’s sometimes easy to forget how we got here: through smart policies that encouraged the growth of our technology sector,” continued Hollis. “Let's not succumb to unnecessary and overreaching regulations that will hold back our innovative spirit and deepen the divides that currently exist in this country. There is too much at stake to make that mistake.”

About The Alliance for Digital Equality: The Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE), headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization that serves to facilitate and ensure equal access to technology in underserved communities. The ADE also serves as a bridge between policymakers and minority individuals in order to help the public understand how legislative and regulatory policies regarding new technologies can impact and empower their daily lives.