Broadband Expansion Takes Center Stage at CCIA Meeting

Senate Commerce Ranking Member Stevens (R-Alaska) likened neutrality to an auto importer demanding a special freeway directly from the port to its plant: “Those who are very large will come in and demand expansion” and “the cost of that capacity will be borne by those who don’t have it.” Stevens said the “red flag” provision in a 2006 telecom bill would have protected against network discrimination: “My concept of net neutrality will protect the individual users of the Internet… but not those who insist upon the ability to expand exponentially without really increasing their own costs.”

“Regrettably [net neutrality] has become much of a partisan debate in Congress,” but not among citizens at large, Sen. Wyden (D-Ore.) said. He called small business “the key constituency” that could heal the party split in favor of neutrality, reiterating his call for hearings explaining neutrality to ordinary people. Without neutrality, “the Internet would, in my view, look a lot more like the cable television system,” he said.

“Obviously thus far the Congress has not stepped up” and stressed broadband expansion, Wyden said, citing an average 3 Mbps connection stateside vs. 100 Mbps in “much of Europe and Asia.” 4G technology is a “special opportunity to get a 3rd pipe into the homes of the American people” but today’s service providers should be prevented from “dominating” the field, lest prices fall too slowly, he said. Sununu called the U.S. “different and unique” from “densely populated countries” for the purpose of broadband rankings, noting that the U.S. has a “somewhat archaic system for allocating spectrum” given its early development of television and radio.

“Universal service to me is the key” to expanding broadband, Stevens said. But reform must be by Congress, as agency action would prompt litigation, he said: “We can pass a bill this year” detailing what USF contains and who pays into it. Access to voice and broadband “ought to be considered a right” -- but USF can’t be sustained using general revenue, any more than roads are funded by fuel and vehicle sales, Stevens said. But Sununu warned against “significant direct subsidies” in USF reform, which may discourage service providers from broad deployments and network innovation. He said the proposal to pay for USF by phone numbers “makes sense” and that recipients should have flexibility in using funds for wireless networks, voice or other technologies. The USF shouldn’t subsidize “plain old phone service when you can subsidize the triple play,” Wyden said.

“We have to ensure that nothing will stand as an obstacle to delay” the 700 MHz wireless broadband auction, Stevens said. The auction is “just the start of solving the problem,” Wyden said, also urging more efficient use of spectrum that is “prime real estate.” Rep. Pickering (R- Miss.) called the 700 MHz auction “the most important telecom policy” this Congress, but predicted post-auction “you will not see as much private-sector promotion” of better spectrum use, calling that a shame caused by govt.-controlled spectrum inefficiencies. Agencies with vast spectrum hoards should have the right to control the auction of spectrum and its proceeds, but “there’s a great deal of skepticism” among agencies that such control is possible, Pickering said.

Legislators should avoid tech mandates, Sununu, an MIT- educated engineer, said: “They haven’t seen how often technologists are wrong.” The Fortran code he had to learn to graduate was obsolete by the time he got his diploma, Sununu said, adding that in 1996 the biggest telecom issue was thought to be long distance service and selling voice minutes, an assumption that lasted 3 years at most. Sununu used the uncertainty of tech advances to argue against Carterfone rules for wireless, calling that market competitive. Raising his voice, Sununu told opponents: “You're predicting what [market leaders'] behavior is going to be in the most rapidly changing environment in industry today.” Providers of “subscriber lines” are “hanging on by the skin of your teeth right now” and can’t afford to discriminate against devices connected to the network, he said.

The Democrats this year can expect to “lay the groundwork through hearings” for more expansive future legislative action, Pickering said. Merger and net neutrality are subject matter closer to antitrust, and states are taking a larger telecom role, he said. Without Carterfone rules for wireless, “we will need to constantly monitor” the market for anticompetitive behavior, Pickering said. Interference remains an issue for white spaces, he said, and “until those are solved we should not go forward. But it’s at least a promising possibility that should be investigated.”