Inclusion in Connectivity - Preserving Affordable Broadband for a Connected California!
New service quality standards would disrupt progress toward the state’s “Broadband for All” goals by reducing competition and increasing prices while diminishing innovation and investment in underserved areas.
Voices for Advancing Digital Progress
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“Californians already face high living costs. They shouldn't have to pay more to stay connected. The CPUC has previously recognized that competition drives quality without additional regulations. This Proposed Decision reverses that approach and risks stalling investment.”
Pat Fong Kushida
President & CEO, California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce
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“The regulations proposed in the PD would raise prices on consumers, threatening affordability and hindering success. For many Latino families and businesses across the country, the rising cost of living leaves no room to spare. The same is true in California where we face some of the highest costs in the nation. For many in our community wireless bills are one of the last remaining services where affordability doesn’t mean sacrificing quality.”
California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce
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“Our community—black-owned businesses, entrepreneurs and the families they serve—directly benefits from competition among wireless providers that keep wireless prices low and service reliable. Competition has created flexible plans, eliminated hidden fees, and enabled innovations like unlimited data, all of which help small businesses stay connected, control costs and serve customers.”
Rich Wallace
President & CEO, Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce
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“As an organization that works directly with our LGBTQ+ community, we are deeply concerned about the ripple effect of significantly costlier infrastructure requirements. Marginalized communities should not bear the unintended consequences of regulatory improvements that were never meant to reduce their access.”
Shae Gardner
Director of Policy & Research, LGBT Tech
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“As the most digitally-connected generation, Gen-Z understands the power of innovation. Expanding wireless access isn’t just about connectivity, it is about participation in modern life. Affordable access isn’t just about browsing the internet, it is about building careers, civic participation and economic mobility.”
Gen-Z Emerging Technology Action
California Leaders and Creators Network
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“California’s diverse small businesses — especially those led by Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs — and the people they serve continue to face mounting pressures from the high cost of living and doing business. Adding new communications regulations will drive up costs without delivering better service, making it harder for low-income households to stay connected.”
Pat Fong Kushida
President & CEO, Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce
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“However well-intentioned these proposed changes may be, they will only make it harder for consumers and businesses to make ends meet. I can’t run my business without a phone, so that extra money will have to come from somewhere. My patients and I shouldn’t be asked to pay more, especially because of unnecessary regulations.”
Blake Marston, D.D.S.
Marston Orthodontics
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“Sacramento's business community and the residents they support are already grappling with rising costs for essentials such as housing, utilities and groceries. Adding new communications regulations will drive up costs without delivering better service - making it harder for low-income households to stay connected.”
Azizza Davis Goines
President & Chief Executive Officer, Capital Black Chamber of Commerce
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“In disaster-prone regions like Los Angeles - where recent wildfires have underscored the critical need for fast, reliable communication - connectivity saves lives. These one-size-fits-all mandates would divert resources away from emergency preparedness and response planning, and delay infrastructure upgrades where they are most urgently needed.”
Nella McOsker
President & CEO, Central City Association
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“Many of our members are already grappling with rising utility costs. Imposing new communications regulations will only increase those burdens without guaranteeing better service, making it even more difficult for vulnerable households to stay connected in an increasingly digital economy.”
Edward M. Wolkowitz
Interim Chief Executive Officer, Culver City Chamber of Commerce
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“Californians already face high living costs. And our members, two-thirds of whom are small businesses and nonprofits of 20 or less employees, continue to struggle amidst uncertain economic conditions in the aftermath of this year's wildfires in Los Angeles. They shouldn't have to pay more just to stay connected.”
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
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“The IEEP represents a region that continues to face significant economic disparities and infrastructure challenges. Many of our member organizations, and the communities they serve, are already grappling with rising utility costs. While we recognize that the deployment of competitive infrastructure is needed, imposing additional communications regulations threatens to increase those costs even further, without guaranteeing improvements in service quality.”
Paul C. Granillo
President & CEO, Inland Empire Economic Partnership
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“OCBC's policy platform opposes burdensome regulations that stifle electronic commerce. This Proposed Decision runs counter to that principle. If enacted, it risks slowing job creation, discouraging private investment and widening the digital divide.”
Amanda Walsh
Vice President of Government Affairs, Orange County Business Council
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“Sacramento’s Latino-owned businesses and the communities they support are already grappling with rising expenses for essentials such as housing, utilities and groceries. Adding new communications regulations will drive up costs without delivering better service — making it harder for low-income households to stay connected.”
Sacramento Hispanic Chamber
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“In San Diego, where the San Diego Fire-Rescue Foundation empowers first responders to tackle emergencies like wildfires and floods, fast, reliable communication isn't just important — it saves lives. These one-size-fits-all mandates would divert resources away from emergency preparedness and response planning, and delay infrastructure upgrades where they are most urgently needed.”
Wendy Moore
Executive Director, San Diego Fire-Rescue Foundation
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“The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce shares the CPUC’s commitment to expanding connectivity, especially in under-connected communities and the communities we serve. But we’re concerned the Proposed Decision to adopt General Order 133-E will do more harm than good.”
Rodney Fong
President & CEO, San Fransisco Chamber of Commerce
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“The San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership represents a diverse and dynamic region that continues to confront persistent economic disparities and infrastructure limitations. Many of our members and the communities they support are already burdened by escalating costs. Introducing additional communications regulations threatens to further compound these expenses, all while offering no clear assurances of enhanced service reliability or performance.”
Luis Portillo
President & CEO, San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership
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“Ventura’s business community and the residents they support are already grappling with rising costs for essentials such as housing, utilities and groceries. Adding new communications regulations will drive up costs without delivering better service — making it harder for low-income households to stay connected.”
Stephanie Caldwell
President & Chief Executive Officer, Ventura Chamber of Commerce
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“Businesses in the San Fernando Valley depend on reliable, affordable connectivity to operate efficiently. From e-commerce and logistics to manufacturing and healthcare, nearly every industry relies on a strong telecommunications network. Saddling providers with excessive regulation will drive up prices, reduce service quality, and make it harder for businesses to grow and compete — particularly in a region already facing rising costs for labor, housing, and utilities.”
Stuart Waldman
President, VICA
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“The proposed regulations (especially strict outage requirements and fines) would raise costs for consumers and pull resources away from building out infrastructure where it's needed most. In a competitive market, these added burdens aren't just unnecessary, they're counterproductive.”
Rosanne Foust
President & CEO, SAMCEDA
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“Imposing uniform mandates on communications providers threatens to redirect resources away from emergency preparedness and infrastructure upgrades, while raising costs without delivering meaningful improvements in service. These burdens could unintentionally deepen the digital divide, making it even harder for vulnerable populations to stay connected when it matters most”
Los Angeles County Business Federation
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“Our region is home to a wide array of technology and telecommunications companies that are actively working to expand access and improve service quality. These businesses are well positioned to provide practical insight into how the proposed regulations may impact infrastructure investment, service reliability, and affordability for California residents and businesses.”
Judy Kruger
President & CEO, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce
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“The proposed regulations—especially strict outage requirements and fines—would raise costs for consumers and pull resources away from building out infrastructure where it’s needed most. In a competitive market, these added burdens aren’t just unnecessary—they’re counterproductive.”
Rebecca Prozan
Board Chair, sf.citi ( );
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“Regulators should proceed with caution and humility rather than pushing forward with a no-exceptions crusade that will stick consumers with its unintended consequences.”
Joe Kane
Director, Broadband and Spectrum Policy
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“In an age when digital dominates every aspect of our lives, the importance of connectivity access cannot be overstated…Calls for increased regulations are usually well-intended, but the risk is that overly stringent regulations can have the opposite effect by creating unnecessary or duplicative barriers that raise costs for compliance and stifle future innovation potential.”
Brett Klein
Account Executive at StackAdapt -
“As the leading voice for San Gabriel Valley residents, we respectfully urge the Commission to reject new service quality metrics and, instead, help remove barriers and unlock funding that accelerates broadband deployment in underserved, rural and tribal communities.”
Edward J. Rendon
Executive Director, San Gabriel Civic Alliance -
“As someone working in California’s health care industry that relies on connectivity – one of the crown jewels of our state, and certainly an enormous economic driver, it’s heartening to see the investment being funneled into expanding and enhancing cellular networks’ coverage and capabilities…But the type of proposal put out by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to create new telecommunication service regulations, though well intentioned, does nothing to advance our state’s innovative leadership.”
Joe Herrera
California Healthcare Professional -
“We are very concerned that the imposition of new standards, though well-intentioned, may impact broadband expansion efforts in areas with less connectivity or no broadband access at all. We also worry this new standard will increase costs to consumers and small businesses, and write in strong opposition to imposing new metrics.”
Paul Little
President & Chief Executive Officer, Pasadena Chamber of Commerce & Civic Association -
“Commissioners must reject proposed service quality metrics to keep accelerating efforts to boost connectivity for all. Instead, the Commission should focus on actions that will spur – not stifle – further investment in increasing wireless access, adoption, and affordability throughout the state, in urban and rural areas alike, to finally close the digital divide.”
Roslyn Layton, PhD
Executive Vice President of Strand Consult and Visiting Researcher at Aalborg University’s Centre for Communication, Media and Information Technologies -
“The Chamber respectfully urges the California Public Utilities Commission to reject these unnecessary and costly regulation changes and, instead, help remove the barriers impeding wireless deployment and support efforts to accelerate wireless deployment in our community and throughout the State.”
Jerry Sanders
President & CEO, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce