Election Could be Catalyst for Broadband Legislation

“We are going to hear about” the need for a broadband policy during the campaign, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said, voicing hope that the next administration responds with alacrity to the need for better telecom policy research.

NTCA wants the next Congress and administration to devote more resources to broadband deployment, said Daniel Mitchell, the group’s vice president of legal affairs. Unless there’s government support, “you will have a situation of haves and have nots,” he said. Countries which lead the OECD broadband rankings have government funding to develop broadband services, he said.

Private sector investment will drive broadband deployment, and both deserve policy focus, said James Cicconi, AT&T senior executive vice president. “The real challenge for the nation is broadband deployment,” Cicconi said. To get there, Congress and the administration should steer away from a heavy regulatory focus, which could deter private sector investment, he said. He termed it “misleading” to view international broadband rankings as a predictor of where the U.S. is headed. “The fact is we got a late start,” he said. “I think we will catch up and surpass the rest of the world.”

“This is not a telecom Congress,” said Gregg Rothschild, chief counsel to the House Commerce Committee. With health care and energy two of the top issues facing the country, focus on them has left members less time for telecom, he said. But Congress could move a broadband mapping bill, setting up policymakers for a more accurate picture of broadband gaps, he said. The House passed such a measure (HR-3419) in November sponsored by Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., and the Senate Commerce Committee passed a similar measure (S-1492) in October which is on the Senate calendar.

But FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Dana Shaffer said an FCC order, soon to be released, would accomplish much of what the bills seek. The FCC order would require specific data on broadband use at the census tract level.

“The wild card continues to be net neutrality” among telecom issues on the congressional action menu, Rothschild said. Barring a major incident, Congress likely won’t act this year, but network operators could provide a catalyst, he said. “If you have an Exxon Valdez-equivalent” incident with net neutrality, legislation likely will move to the front burner, he said.

Congress should tread carefully around network management, said Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., ranking member of the House Telecom Subcommittee. He cited concerns with Markey’s proposed net neutrality bill (HR-5353), which he said would establish a broadband policy giving the FCC a “green light to engage in regulation without any further congressional oversight.” The bill’s problem is that “no one can agree on what constitutes unreasonable interference and discrimination,” Stearns said. -- Anne Veigle

Broadband Policy Summit Notebook…

The FCC should act as a “clearinghouse… of broadband strategies and ideas” to promote deployment, Scott Deutchman, Commissioner Michael Copps’ wireline adviser, said Thursday on a Broadband Policy Summit panel. With no national strategy, many states are doing “quite amazing things” to get broadband to underserved areas, he said. The FCC could help by tracking those efforts and chronicling what works and doesn’t, he said. The agency should subsidize broadband, Deutchman said. “Company after company after company comes into our office and makes the very legitimate point” that shareholders back broadband investment only if the company makes money, he said. “One of the things that we want to do is target our subsidies better,” Deutchman said. It probably means an investment “greatly more than $300 million a year,” but better targeting will ensure that the money is used properly, he said.