Group Warns FCC of 'Decline in Consumer Welfare' Under Title II Broadband Regulations

The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI) urged the FCC against reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II telecom service. Reclassification would "lead to a decline in consumer welfare" due to the "increased tax exposure" ISPs will face at the state and local level, the group said in a letter posted Friday in docket 23-320 (see 2403210026). ACI also noted that some states "consider intangible property to be taxable property" and "the taxation of broader telecommunications property could represent a major increase in the property taxes assessed on licensed spectrum." The impact will be "significant," ACI said, noting broadband services "are not highly inelastic."