ARLINGTON, Va. | March 6, 2024 – The National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) are concerned by the Biden Administration’s announcement proposing a ban on broadband bulk billing arrangements. Specifically, this misguided proposal which was included in yesterday’s White House Announcement purportedly lays the groundwork for a rulemaking process at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) aimed at boosting competition. In actuality, it would do the opposite.
Banning bulk internet agreements will harm residents and disincentivize investment in broadband service, especially in low-income, smaller and more-affordable multifamily communities who struggle the most to get connected. Worse, it runs in direct opposition to the historic federal investments and resources being poured into communities of all types to bridge the digital divide, by eliminating a cost effective, quick and reliable solution to improve broadband access and adoption.
The Administration’s fact sheet and FCC’s subsequent press release rely heavily on anecdotes and are not supported by data or facts. The FCC itself has acknowledged the important role that rental housing providers can play in ensuring delivery of broadband to apartment residents through bulk billing arrangements. Through agreements with broadband providers, rental housing providers can use their market knowledge and leverage to negotiate cheaper, better, faster and more reliable broadband to apartment residents than what is typically found in the surrounding community.
Bulk billing arrangements are pro-consumer and pro-renter and help support property operations like climate resilience and our shared, long-term goals of improving housing affordability. The Administration and the FCC should be looking for ways to support and elevate bulk billing arrangements to leverage historic federal resources to boost broadband access, not reduce options and in turn, potentially disconnect millions of American families.
NAA and NMHC urge the Biden administration and the FCC to reconsider this flawed proposal as we try to work together for ways to lower housing costs, increase connectivity and expand housing supply.
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For more than 26 years, the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) have partnered on behalf of America's apartment industry. Drawing on the knowledge and policy expertise of staff in Washington, D.C., as well as the advocacy power of 141 NAA state and local affiliated associations, NAA and NMHC provide a single voice for developers, owners and operators of multifamily rental housing. One-third of all Americans rent their housing, and 40 million of them live in an apartment home.