D.C. MAY BE TOO CONCERNED AT TECHNOLOGY PACE, FCC'S PEPPER SAYS
NEW ORLEANS -- Beltway perceptions of new media technologies may be out of step with cable industry reality, Robert Pepper, chief of FCC Office of Plans & Policy, said on NCTA convention bureau chiefs panel. Pepper said walking convention floor offered new perspectives: “In D.C., there’s a lot of hand wringing about broadband. But when you talk to suppliers and others in the industry, they are thrilled. Broadband seems to be being adopted more rapidly than expected.”
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
“Regulations are based on expected behaviors,” which don’t always materialize, FCC Gen. Counsel Jane Mago said in reference to recent FCC court setbacks: “Courts want the FCC to have their ducks in a row. They want an explanation of where we are going.” She said courts gave “greater deference” to congressional statutes than to FCC regulations based on those statutes: “Courts then look at implementation. You have to connect the dots -- the courts are demanding to see how the regulation promotes the goal of the original statute.” Moreover, Mago said, “The courts say the world isn’t diverse enough. We can’t just look at competition.”
Competition remains key, Common Carrier Bureau Chief Dorothy Atwood said. “Long-term, sustainable competition is the goal,” she said, as is “economically efficient entry. But where will the competition come from? Cable has tremendous promise for consumers. The goals of the [Communications] Act are clear -- it’s only the maturing process of what it takes to get there that you're hearing about now.” Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree said: “A new media world needs new media rules and that’s what we're trying to implement. But broadcast has always been seen as different because you have the First Amendment hanging around. But it’s in everyone’s interest to be patient” to allow FCC to find correct regulatory paths. Ferree also said: “There’s a temptation that if there’s a problem to regulate it. But at the end of the day, it’s the duty of the FCC to protect the public.”
Asked whether addition of 5th commissioner will upset dynamics current set of Commissioners has established, Chief of Staff Marsha McBride downplayed potential disruption, pointing out current drawback was that “when you have 4 people, you can have a 2-2 split. But no matter how many people, it’s important to just try and guide the work flow. While the dynamics will undoubtedly change with a fifth commissioner, they won’t change to any marked degree.”
What has changed, Pepper said, is that technology is finally able to implement consumer expectation in accessible way. “Broadband is now a conceptual framework,” and as such has replaced convergence as foundation for new media future. “The term convergence was coined when people were looking forward to its happening,” Pepper said. “But now boundaries have blurred. Cable telephony is almost at 2 million households. Boundaries are blurring all over and people have stopped using the term convergence because now we're in the middle of it.”