FCC Fails to Extend Enhanced Transparency Waiver

The Federal Communications Commission did not extend the small operator waiver from the Open Internet order's enhanced transparency requirements by the Dec. 15 deadline. The FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau extended it in 2015 by a year. In a sense, not extending it does not have much practical effect because the enhanced transparency rules, from which operators are being exempted, have not even gone into effect yet. But industry compliance officers and lawyers like regulatory certainty, and this is not it.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated an item extending the waiver, but commissioners could not agree on it. The sticking point remains the sub trigger at which the waiver takes effect. Republicans want it to apply to operators with 250,000 subs or fewer, while Democrats want to stick with the current, or until Dec. 15 current, 100,000 or fewer. Bills that passed the House and Senate Communications Subcommittee raised the trigger to 250,000 and some legislators this week were pushing the FCC to extend the waiver. The American Cable Association had been pushing for the waiver extension, so it was not pleased at the lack of regulatory certainty.