New FCC chair blocks Biden's bulk broadband billing ban

January 28, 2025 12:14 PM

Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr has thrown out a Biden administration proposal that would have regulated broadband providers' ability to ‘bulk bill’ — where building owners could negotiate directly with ISPs on services for their entire building.

The Biden administration’s proposal would have barred tenants from paying for broadband and cable services from a service provider if they did not wish to take the service.

Carr has quashed the planned regulation, however, arguing it would have raised the price of broadband for apartment-dwelling citizens “by as much as 50%”.

Subscribe today for free

The connectivity news and insights that matter - straight to your inbox

“This regulatory overreach from Washington would have hit families right in their pocketbooks at a time when they were already hurting from the last Administration’s

inflationary policies,” Carr said in a statement. That is why you saw a broad and bipartisan coalition of groups opposing the plan. After all, seniors, students, and low-income individuals would have been hit particularly hard.”

The Biden administration began pushing for bulk billing governance last October in line with its stance on quashing “junk fees” and enforcing ‘click-to-cancel’ which would have clamped down on businesses from auto-renewing subscriptions without consumers' consent.

At the time, Carr, then the seniormost Republican commissioner at the FCC, said Biden’s bulk billing plan “makes no sense and would hit families like a new broadband tax”.

The new FCC commission has now ended the proposal and has set his sights on scaling back what he called “costly regulatory overreach” of the previous administration.

“I am glad to take a step in the right direction by ending the FCC’s consideration of a Biden-era plan that would have artificially raised the cost of Internet service.”

In addition to cutting the bulk billing governance proposal, Carr is looking to cut costs at the FCC, as well as end its Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

Carr previously shared a viral video of Argentinian President Javier Milei ripping off the names of government departments he wants to cut as part of cost-cutting measures, adding: “When it comes to the FCC's promotion of DEI, I have just one thing to say: Afuera (out).”