Democrats Won’t Abandon Net Neutrality, Aides Say
Senate Democrats predict spring hearings on net neutrality -- an urgent issue that must be addressed, according to speakers at a NARUC conference Tues. Colin Crowell, an aide to House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Markey (D-Mass.), called neutrality a “central issue of the broadband era” that will be around a long time. Markey wants Congress to focus on what policy changes would mean for smaller voices on the airwaves and pay TV and for entrepreneurial Internet companies seeking a foothold.
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Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Inouye (D-Hawaii) plans hearings in the spring, said Kristin Smith, telecom aide to Sen. Snowe (R-Me.).: “We're eager to get that debate going.” But Mike O'Reilly, an aide to Sen. Sununu (R-N.H.), was less optimistic that Congress could focus on the complex argument this session. He described the issue as a “distraction” and said it was unlikely Congress would have time to deal with it substantively. “I don’t see it winning,” O'Reilly said, but “it’s an interesting debate.”
Oversight of NTIA’s management of the DTV transition, privacy and public safety are issues where members of both parties said they see common ground. The Universal Service Fund (USF) is a likely subject of Senate legislative action, aides agreed. House Commerce Committee minority counsel Neil Fried said Ranking Member Barton (R-Tex.) still is eager to cut waste from the program. “Barton wants to take a close look at USF,” Fried said: “There’s a need to bring some fiscal discipline.” Fried said Barton thinks the reverse auction plan “bears some scrutiny.”
The Hill aides also agreed on the need for ways to speed broadband deployment. Subsidies through the USF program are one approached, but it’s likely to face opposition among conservatives who want to the fund’s growth. “It’s among the top agenda items for Senator Snowe,” Smith said. Many Me. residents can’t afford or don’t have access to broadband. Another bipartisan issue was the commitment to trim excesses in the USF fund -- not only in the schools and libraries E- Rate program but also in the high-cost fund. Senate Commerce Committee Minority Staff Dir. Christine Kurth said random audits are one way to try to correct abuses, but the tactic must be applied to all parts of the program.
“The committee has been looking at this,” said Johanna Shelton, House Telecom Committee telecom counsel. There has been bipartisan work on ways to correct abuses in the fund, she said.