Americans for Tax Reform Submits Comments to FCC on Next Generation Television Mandates

Today, Americans for Tax Reform led a coalition of 20 free market groups in submitting comments to the FCC. These comments urged the Commission to reject adoption mandates for Next Generation Television. With World War II-era regulation still constraining broadcasters, new regulation will not improve video accessibility.

If adopted, the mandate would negatively impact the great majority of Americans currently connected in exchange for expanding its reach to a minority of markets. With more than three of every four Americans having access to advanced broadcasting technologies, the FCC’s goal to expand video accessibility is already working without regulations:

Under the Commission’s original 2017 report and order authorizing ATSC 3.0, broadcasters are allowed use the new standard on a “voluntary, market-driven basis.” The Commission should maintain its voluntary, market-driven adoption policy that has reached the vast majority of Americans, not embrace a mandate just to reach the small minority of markets.

The current FCC roadmap and previous deregulatory efforts in 2017 have enabled affordable and accessible broadband to reach more consumers than ever. Mandates would not only increase the price for accessibility but would serve to reduce competition in the broadband market:

The Commission should take the plight of broadcasters and those in need of accessibility features seriously. The solutions lie in deregulatory efforts, such as those the Commission is successfully pursuing through Delete, Delete, Delete that make their technologies cheaper and more widely available to consumers. They also allow genuine market competition to dictate which technologies survive and thrive. This is precisely what the FCC did in 2017 with the original ATSC 3.0 order. The FCC should stick to this roadmap that has empowered consumer choice.

The current deregulatory efforts are working to expand broadband to every American. By staying the current course the FCC can continue pursuing deregulatory efforts while expanding coverage, all without the need for mandates.

The full comments can be found here.