Apartment landlords can force tenants to use specific ISPs under new FCC action
WTF?! FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has withdrawn a proposal to ban mandatory bulk billing arrangements for internet services in apartment buildings. This decision is a departure from the previous administration’s efforts to increase competition and consumer choice in the broadband market.
The proposal, originally put forward by former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in March 2024, sought to prohibit arrangements that required tenants to pay for specific internet services, even if they preferred alternative providers. Rosenworcel argued that such practices often lead to higher prices and limit choices for residents in apartments, condos, and public housing.
Rosenworcel’s proposal was not a complete ban on bulk-billing. Rather, it aimed to give tenants the option to opt out of such arrangements, potentially opening the door for more competition.
Despite the FCC holding a 3-2 Democratic majority at the time, the proposal faced significant opposition from internet service providers and the multifamily community and never came to a vote in 2024. Carr, who was elevated to his position by President Trump, has now removed this item from the commission’s consideration, citing concerns about potential price increases for consumers.
Proponents of bulk-billing arrangements, including the National Multifamily Housing Council, National Apartment Association, and Real Estate Technology and Transformation Center, have praised Carr’s decision. They argue that these agreements often provide high-speed internet to renters at rates up to 50 percent lower than standard retail pricing and remove barriers such as credit checks and installation fees.
Bulk billing arrangements have made high-speed internet more accessible and affordable for millions of Americans, especially for low-income renters and seniors living in affordable housing, according to NMHC President Sharon Wilson Géno.
However, critics of bulk billing practices argue that they effectively shut out competition, even if they don’t explicitly grant exclusive rights to a single provider. In 2022, the FCC addressed this issue by banning exclusive revenue-sharing agreements between landlords and ISPs in multi-tenant buildings, a measure that received bipartisan support.
Public Knowledge’s legal director, John Bergmayer, told Ars Technica that the proposed bulk-billing ban, which is now off the table, would have eliminated “one of the ways that landlords, HOAs, and telecom and cable companies collaborate to bypass the intended effort of [FCC] rules.”
Chairman Carr defended his decision, calling the measure “regulatory overreach” and saying that it “would have hit families right in their pocketbooks”
