Charter withdraws petition to impose data caps

Just days before Donald Trump’s helicopter shrunk into the sky, we had a promising early indication that the telecom companies’ wild ride under Trump’s FCC is drawing to a close. Last week, Charter Communications, the company behind Spectrum, took of his petition to impose data caps: essentially his attempt to restrict customers’ internet use in order to force them to spend more money. The FCC announced yesterday this charter had withdrawn its petition, which it had filed in June, barely a few months after the start of the pandemic.

The Obama-led Democrat-led FCC initially prohibited Charter Communications from imposing data caps until 2023, as a condition of its 2016 merger with Time Warner Cable. The idea was to prevent the company from having a profit-benefit more than the competition. Ajit Pai, FCC chairman appointed by Trump and telecoms stooge said it was “the government’s micromanagement of the Internet economy.” Stopping a broadband company from jacking up prices isn’t micromanagement, but it’s the kind of jargon Pai is used across the board for the core functions of the regulator he oversees.

In his petition, Charter argued that everyone is streaming everything now, and that the data limits haven’t hurt competitors like Comcast, AT&T, Cox and Altice, ergo “the market is working”. Advocacy groups like Stop the Cap! argued that consumers hate data caps, citing the ‘shock of the bill’ of fines imposed by Time Warner for accidental overrunsage. charter argued that consumers love data limits because they provide a “cost-effective alternative” to unlimited plans.

In an emailed statement to Gizmodo, Charter explained that timing only has to do with the pandemic. “In light of the continuing severity of the global pandemic and its effects on our customers, we want to give them the assurance that they will continue to enjoy unlimited broadband access and the financial certainty that comes with it. in these difficult times ”, he declared:“ and therefore withdrew our petition ”.

This is a heel of Charter’s previous position that the pandemic should have no impact on the decision to allow it to impose data caps, namely because Charter has cut fees and increased the wages of frontline workers. An FCC filing literally included the header: “The charter has provided substantial assistance to subscribers during the COVID-19 pandemic, which does not justify maintaining the conditions.”

It’s almost certain that Charter would have had a better chance of securing data caps under President Pai, which summed up at the start of his term as president with an occasional crack on himself as a “Verizon puppet,” then he living up to the legend.

Dad recently said According to the Wall Street Journal, the Republicans-led anti-regulatory approach has increased access to broadband and accelerated infrastructure construction. In May 2020, FCC Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel highlighted that the true scope of the expansion is immeasurable because the ISPs had not provided accurate data. He repealed net neutrality, made it easier for ISPs bury disclosures, abandoned efforts impose caps on the appallingly high costs of prison appeals, and gesture towards dumping Section 230 to appease Republicans (although there is no realistic way for him to do so). Executive Director of Fight for the Future I called him “One of the most corrupt government officials of the century.”

We have a plus performance review here. he ad in November that he would step down as president today, and the official Twitter account left.

The FCC is not necessarily fixed. It currently includes two Democrats and two appointed by Trump, both of who support the GOP agenda to atomize section 230. (One of them, Nathan Simington, allegedly helped draft Trump’s meaningless executive order to punish Twitter). President Biden’s presidential candidate will need to be approved by the Senate. The Biden FCC has a lot of damage to reverse, but we can hope for a more transparent, affordable and equitable managed Internet.