WTA Supports RLEC Exemption From Proposed Digital Discrimination Regulations

In comments to the FCC in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on digital discrimination, WTA stated that, in light of the long nondiscriminatory service record of RLECs and the established legal restraints ensuring the continuation of this record that RLECs be exempted conditionally from the annual report and compliance program requirements proposed in the FNPRM.

Specifically, WTA proposed that each individual RLEC be exempted from preparing and filing the contemplated annual report and from adopting, implementing and conducting the contemplated formal Compliance Program unless and until such individual RLEC is found by the Commission to have violated its rules against “digital discrimination of access” under circumstances where the policies and practices held to be discriminatory were not justified by genuine issues of technical or economic feasibility. In such instances which are expected to be extremely rare, the individual offending RLECs could, inter alia, be required to file the Annual Report and implement an acceptable Compliance Program for a period of years specified by the Commission.