FCC Seeks Broad Comment on National Broadband Plan

The broadband plan could be “the most formative and transformative proceeding ever in the commission’s history,” said acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps, impacting many other public policy goals, including energy, healthcare and public safety. Copps envisions development of the plan to be “open, inclusive, outreaching and data hungry,” he said.

Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, who was nominated to head the RUS, said the FCC is launching a “long overdue, desperately needed effort to establish a national broadband policy. … At this critical time in our nation’s history, this far reaching NOI asks the right questions … For those of us who have long hungered for a meaty discussion of how to craft a national broadband plan, today we set the table for a feast.”

Commissioner Robert McDowell said the plan must not play favorites and must be technologically neutral. “Given the incredibly diverse nature of our country -- both in terms of geography and demographics -- our plan must not favor one particular technology or type of provider over another, even inadvertently,” McDowell said. “Broadband deployment throughout America simply is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Wireline, wireless and satellite technologies are meaningful alternatives, each worthy of our attention.”

McDowell, the lone Republican commissioner, countered any arguments that broadband growth had been neglected under the Bush administration. “The FCC’s own data shows that since 2000, the number of high-speed lines has increased more than 1600 percent, from approximately 6.8 million lines in December 2000 to over 121 million lines in December 2007,” he said. “In what might be a better measure of ‘broadband’ deployment, FCC data shows the number of lines with transmission speeds greater than or equal to 2.5 megabits per second grew from December 2005 to December 2007 by 70 percent.”

The NOI that emerged Wednesday was largely as put forward by the bureaus for commissioner approval. The various commissioner offices added several questions to those already posed and made the introduction somewhat less political than the original draft, agency sources said. Agency sources said in keeping with promises of more openness at the commission, more career staffers were active in the e-mail chain as the final order was under construction.

Commissioners fought little over the NOI’s details, Copps told reporters after the meeting. “I wouldn’t say that this was the most contentious item that we've ever dealt with at the commission,” he said. All commissioners want the U.S. to have “the best possible broadband infrastructure,” he said. “We obviously have some different basic philosophies on the role of various parties in that, but I think that everyone wants to see a good and happy result here.”

The “inclusive” nature of the NOI addresses McDowell’s concerns about scaring away private sector investment, Copps said. But he emphasized that private sector investment must be “married to visionary, enlightened public policy,” a concept that he said has been missing from broadband policy. “We have had the benefit of a lot of investments in this technology, but we somehow got into this mindset over the last eight years … that unlike all the other infrastructure we ever built in this country where we have public-private partnership to do it, this one we're just going to get there alone.” U.S. broadband rankings in the world have suffered as a result, he said. Copps agreed with Adelstein that wireless will play an important part in the national plan, saying “any successful effort will rely on all” broadband technologies.

The FCC asked questions on a broad range of supply and demand issues outlined by Congress in the Recovery Act. On the supply side, the FCC sought comment on how to evaluate the status of broadband deployment and progress made by grants, how the commission can best use existing data, and what additional data measures the FCC should consult. On demand, the FCC asks about affordability, digital literacy, civic participation, community development, cybersecurity and how to spur adoption among low-income Americans, the disabled, minorities and senior citizens.

Other topics included impact on existing Universal Service Fund programs, the value of competition and open markets, the role of spectrum management, and promotion of national goals like education, healthcare, job creation, energy efficiency and private sector investment. And the FCC asks how best to achieve effective coordination among federal agencies, the private sector, consumers and tribal, state and local governments. It’s expected that the USF questions will address concerns in the industry about the impact that winning a grant will have on a company’s future universal service support.

Despite the abundance of questions, Copps said he hopes to keep the rulemaking from getting sidetracked. “Instead of trying to resolve every contentious issue that has fueled so many years of seemingly-endless debates over telecommunications … we will go in quest of practical suggestions that can be deployed in time to respond to the economic and many other challenges facing us,” he said. Commenters shouldn’t feel compelled to respond to every question in the NOI, but instead pick issues most important to them, he said. If commenters believe the FCC neglected to ask a particular question, they should raise it, he said.

The wireless industry is already making the case that wireless connections must be given equal consideration under the plan. CTIA’s comments have been consistent on broadband issues and likely will stress the value consumers place on mobility and that fixed and wireless services should be considered separately when determining what areas are unserved or underserved, said an association source. CTIA will also emphasize the importance of FCC action to promote quicker tower siting and the need for more licensed spectrum for CMRS.

“Wireless carriers are concerned that the RUS funds will be disbursed to landlines that have longstanding relationships with RUS and familiarity with their processes,” said a wireless industry attorney. “The funding will provide recipients with a competitive advantage in the market and RUS may want to shore up the position of companies to whom it has already loaned money.” Conditions associated with the NTIA and RUS programs are also of concern, the attorney said. “If the program is used to advance policy initiatives such as net neutrality, practical considerations will outweigh interest in the program. Wireless is not concerned by reasonable reporting obligations but if compliance becomes overly burdensome carriers will back away.”

“Wireless broadband platforms should play a leading role in the Commission’s plan to ensure that every American has access to broadband capability,” the Wireless Communications Association said in a statement Wednesday. “Wireless technology is the most cost-effective way to provide affordable broadband both to sparsely populated rural areas and urban centers. Moreover, as the only broadband platform that is capable of providing access everywhere, all the time, wireless broadband offers mobility -- a connection to every person whether at home or on the go. These capabilities make wireless broadband essential to achieving the FCC’s goal of universal broadband connectivity.”

Comments on the national broadband plan NOI are due June 8, replies July 7, an FCC spokesman said. -- Adam Bender, Howard Buskirk

FCC Meeting Notebook …

Commissioners likely will vote on items at the next FCC meeting, acting Chairman Michael Copps told reporters after Wednesday’s gathering. On May 13, there will be “some items to vote on, some items to decide,” Copps said. He declined to say what subjects will be dealt with. The February and March meetings under Copps saw no votes and dealt only with DTV.

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A committee advising the FCC on diversity is being re- energized under acting Chairman Michael Copps. The Advisory Committee for Diversity in the Digital Age may soon get several new members, Copps told reporters Wednesday. It’s been re-chartered, commission officials said. The last charter expired in December. The panel, around for “years and years,” is “an important priority of mine,” Copps said. “This commission is deadly serious about finally doing something on the sorry state” of media ownership by women and people of color, and the committee will play a role, he said. “We will be looking to the committee to provide us with some quick feedback” on several related matters such as full-file reviews and an Adarand analysis, Copps said. Those reviews consider if remedial action is needed in cases where discrimination took place, Media Bureau officials told reporters. It “involves a review of all possible components of an application” potentially including race “that could contribute to a decision,” said Robert Ratcliffe, Copps’ liaison to the bureau. A full-file review is a “race-neutral method,” David Honig, executive director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, told reporters later. An Adarand review could examine how to apply a “strict scrutiny standard,” to minority media ownership, bureau officials said in their briefing. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1995 case of the same name that the standard must be used when the government imposes race-based classifications. Copps wants “very prompt and expeditious action by the committee” on what approach the FCC should take on future Adarand studies, Ratcliffe said. Adarand and full-file reviews aren’t part of the FCC order approved Wednesday on collecting information from radio and TV stations on minority and female ownership, he said.

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Commissioners approved on circulation a rulemaking notice on rural radio service, the FCC said Wednesday. Text of the Media Bureau item should be made public soon, acting Chairman Michael Copps told Wednesday’s open meeting.