Washington D.C. — With a 2-1 vote the Federal Communications Commission has frozen rural phone rates for two years. FCC chairman Adjit Pai and Republican Mike O’Rielly voted for the freeze. Democrat commissioner Mignon Clyburn voted against.
The vote changes a six-year-old rule that has been criticized for raising phone rates for more than one million rural customers.
The decision reverses a July increase that would raise rates from $18 to $20, then to $22 the following year.
Pai called the rural mandatory minimum rate unfair in comparison to the average rate in high-income areas like Washington D.C. which is $13 per month.
Commissioner Clyburn voted against the freeze and is in favor of approving policies that target fraud, waste and abuse.
