Common Cause Joins Public Knowledge in Urging the FCC To Provide Transparency on Educational and Outreach Rules During Technology Transitions
On May 31, 2018, Common Cause joined Public Knowledge in a letter urging the FCC to provide transparency as to why the agency’s education and outreach technology transition rules from 2016 never went into effect. The rules require telecommunications carriers to provide education and outreach to their customers when they are seeking to replace their legacy phone network with a new service. The rules are specifically tailored to ensure the most vulnerable communities including low-income, the elderly, and people with disabilities have the information they need to understand what to expect when their legacy voice service is discontinued. The FCC now seeks to eliminate these rules with the rationale that they never went into effect and are burdensome. Common Cause strongly objects to the elimination of the education and outreach rules and urges the Commission to fully disclose why they never went into effect.