28 Groups join Public Knowledge in Urging Chairman Wheeler to Protect Americans in Tech Transition

Public Knowledge, joined by 28 other organizations, sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler calling on him to issue rules to protect the more than 85 million Americans and millions of small business still dependent on traditional landline service from losing access to vital services, and to preserve the stability of the telephone system and reliability of the 911 system for the more than 300 million Americans that depend on it every day.

The FCC previously recognized in two unanimous bipartisan votes in 2014 that what it calls the “Tech Transition” of our national communications network to the digital age must reflect the fundamental values that have governed our communications system for the last hundred years, including guaranteeing reliable, affordable service to all Americans and protecting access to public safety services such as 911. But the purely market-driven process driving the transition to date has resulted in many Americans experiencing degraded phone service and an alarming increase in 911 outages. Harold Feld, Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge, said, "Chairman Wheeler must act quickly to ensure that the transition of the phone system is an upgrade for everyone -- not an upgrade for some and a downgrade for the rest of us."

[The Benton Foundation was a co-signing organization]