Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


DISSENTING STATEMENT OF 
COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR
Re:	Strengthening Customer Service in the Communications Industry, CG Docket No. 24-472, Notice of Inquiry 
	The Biden-Harris Administration’s communications policies are failing to deliver for the American people.  The FCC’s spectrum auction authority expired last year.  The Administration’s much-anticipated national spectrum strategy does not commit to freeing up even one megahertz of spectrum.  Nor are there any new spectrum auctions on the horizon.  On top of all of this, Vice President Harris has been leading the Administration’s signature, $42 billion plan to expand Internet infrastructure to millions of Americans for over 1,070 days now.  Yet not a single home or business has been connected to the Internet through that program, and no construction projects are even under way.
It is imperative that we work together to get the federal government’s communications policies back on track.  And the sooner we get started on that work the better.  We should recommit as an agency to the tried and true playbook of freeing up spectrum and eliminating regulatory barriers to deployment.
Instead, the Administration has started blaming others for its own record.  Today’s Notice of Inquiry is a case in point.  A few months ago, the Administration issued a proclamation that pointed the finger at “price fixing,” “junk fees,” and “other unfair practices that harm consumers” as the root cause of the economic malaise that so many in this country are feeling.  It then called on administrative agencies to hop to it and crack down on those practices.
	Enter today’s “customer service” Notice of Inquiry.  It seeks comment on whether companies should allow callers to press “0” to reach an operator or some other number instead, whether customer service centers are located in convenient locations or not, whether the FCC should review and regulate the voluntary fees some customers may pay to skip service wait times, or whether AI technologies should be allowed to operate as an equivalent or alternative to live service representatives.  And in many cases, the actions explored by the NOI would require the FCC to go well beyond the bounds of our authority under the Communications Act.  Indeed, much of what the FCC considers here would fit more appropriately within the scope of the Federal Trade Commission’s jurisdiction.  In fact, the FTC has opened up a proceeding to look at these types of things already.
	We should leave those cross-cutting consumer protection issues to the nation’s lead consumer protection agency—the FTC.  We should color within the lines drawn by the Communications Act.  And we should focus our time and resources on policies that will help bring more Americans across the digital divide.
	Because today’s decision focuses instead on the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to deflect attention away from the necessary course correction, I dissent.



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