Will The FCC Respond To MMTC Demands?

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The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) on Friday pleaded with the FCC to prioritize Adarand studies and to promote other measures to fulfill diversity and small business mandates.


The demands came after the FCC released its triennial report, in which it discusses efforts to eliminate “market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses in the provision and ownership of telecommunications services and information services.”

MMTC said its recognizes the steps the FCC has taken to improve diversity and lower barriers for small, minority-, and women-owned businesses in the media, telecom, and tech sectors.

Steps to revitalize AM radio, in particular, were singled out by MMTC.

“Unfortunately, MMTC believes the Commission should have gone further in its efforts,” it says. “The Commission has failed to conduct the Adarand studies necessary to collect data to support the implementation of race-conscious policies to advance diversity, as required by the 1995 Supreme Court case; it has allowed equal employment opportunity enforcement to diminish to nearly zero; it has not extended its diversity procurement rule to all technologies; and it has released its Section 257 triennial diversity report, which was due in 2012, nearly four years late.”

Furthermore, MMTC President/CEO Kim Keenan argues, “The FCC has taken small steps to reduce barriers and increase opportunities for SDBs and MWBEs in the media, telecom, and tech sectors, but this commission could have done much more to prioritize its compliance with the Section 257 mandate and its moral obligation to serve an often-ignored part of our nation’s population. The Digital Age is a pivotal juncture in our nation’s history, and it is imperative that the FCC do more to include opportunities for millions of minorities and women to become an integral part of its future.