Other
Consumer Perspectives on Barriers to Accessing the Open Internet
(2017)
Abstract
Pursuant to requests from the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made public around 50,000 informal consumer complaints submitted to the FCC. The FCC has also released samples of FCC open Internet ombudsperson emails and samples of responses by Internet service providers to the complaints. Using Natural Language Processing (NLP)/textual analytics tools, this report maps the content of the complaint documents and provides a preliminary analysis of their implications for answering procedural and substantive questions raised by NHMC’s Joint Motion, Motion in Opposition by NCTA/USTelecom and AT&T in its ex parte disclosure in this matter (of September 18, 28, and 27th2017 respectively). The quantitative analysis of these consumer complaint documents reveals that less than expected data transmission speeds represent the primary barrier to the freedom of American consumers to access the open Internet via multipurpose broadband networks to which they subscribe. Carrier responses to the complaints indicate their traffic management practices represent a key reason for their failures to deliver connection speeds their consumers were expecting. The preliminary analysis of this new body of evidence challenges the fundamental presumption that consumers perceive broadband Internet access as a bundle of enhanced information services. Consumers and carriers, at least according to their responses to consumer complaints, appear to conceptualize broadband Internet access as basic telecommunications service and characterize it in terms of quality and capacity of connections. The documents contain a rich body of information that is directly relevant to questions under review in this matter. In the opinion of this author, the consumer centric perspective offered in this body of evidence fundamentally challenges the presumptions underlying the proposal to reclassify “high-speed” access as a Title I “information” versus Title II “telecommunications” service. The evidence further contradicts the presumption that the regulatory regime established under the 2015Open Internet Order represents a “heavy-handed” one or that enhanced transparency rules impose a material “regulatory burden” on Internet service providers.
Keywords
- Consumer Protection,
- Internet Access,
- United States
Disciplines
Publication Date
2017
Citation Information
Rajabiun, R. (2017). Consumer Perspectives on Barriers to Accessing the Open Internet: A Preliminary Analysis of Informal Consumer Complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Expert report from the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the matter of Restoring Internet Freedom, WC Docket No. 17-108 (2017).