Genachowski Plans to Seek Commission Vote on Broadband Plan

“The first thing I'm pleased about is that the broadband team has been able to pull off something that was unprecedented,” Genachowski said of the workshops, which continue next week. “There will be about two dozen, open staff-level workshops this month. … Being able to pull that off, so that the commission is engaging with the public in this fact-gathering, data-gathering process, is very important.”

Asked about the huge volume of information flowing to the commission, Genachowski conceded that it will be a major challenge “to tame the data as it comes in, to build analytical frameworks around it.” He added, “I wouldn’t say yet that we've gotten all the data that we want or all the data that we need or all the ideas that we want or need, but the response to the workshops so far has been good. People are engaging from lots of different perspectives.”

USF remains a “very high priority” for the commission, Genachowski told us. “As the world changes, the nature of the program can and should change,” he said. Adding broadband to the program could create “real burdens on the system, so that it would be very difficult to flick a switch and say, ‘We're here in a new world.’ … That is a real challenge, but it’s one we'll take seriously, and we'll take it seriously as part of the broadband process.”

Genachowski said he didn’t know whether the FCC will deal with USF and intercarrier compensation overhauls in pieces or in a comprehensive order. “There’s a team that’s tackling it, that’s looking at it in the context of broadband,” he said. “The right process here is to let the team and staff do its work.” Still, “there is a broad desire inside and outside the commission to have a universal service system that works, and works for 21st century America,” he said. “This is an issue where I hope and expect that we'll work together driven by staff that’s already started to jump in to develop an outcome and path that makes sense for the country.”

Genachowski also told us he considers wireless- competition matters at the commission in the context of broader broadband policy. “Wireless is very much a part of the discussion of broadband,” he said. “There’s really energy being devoted to wireless issues. Why? Wireless is such an extraordinary opportunity for the country in terms of unleashing a new wave of innovation, a new wave of investment, jobs created here in the U.S. and bringing competition to the full communications marketplace.”

Genachowski said he hasn’t decided whether wireless and spectrum issues should be the subject of a separate investigation, a smaller version of the broadband plan. “We haven’t announced one,” he said. “For now I'm satisfied with the organization that we have around wireless.”

DTV Remains High Media Bureau Priority

Under Genachowski, the Media Bureau is helping TV stations improve digital service and working on publicizing more information about children’s TV shows on the FCC’s Web site, a report on content filtering and a coming inquiry on kids and digital media, he said.

Genachowski said the Media Bureau is working with broadcasters to see how the FCC can make information about children’s informational and educational programming available online to parents “in a useful way.” The Children’s Television Act calls for the programming to be aired and information about it made available to parents, Genachowski said. “The good news is that the information is actually supplied by broadcasters and it’s on the FCC Web site. The bad news is it’s very hard to find on the FCC Web site. It requires something close to an engineering degree and an expertise in brain teasers to figure out where it is. And even when you get there, it’s not presented in the way that’s really useful to parents.”

The Media Bureau is working on a “status report,” due to Congress at month’s end under the Child Safe Viewing Act, on how parental-control technologies can be improved, Genachowski said. The report on consumer electronics, cable, satellite and wireless devices was the subject of a notice of inquiry this year (CD June 25 p6). Genachowski confirmed plans for another NOI on kids media “in the digital age.” That notice will “build on the Child Safe Viewing Act and look across the board,” said Genachowski, who discussed the document at a Senate Commerce Hearing (CD July 23 p1).

With children “on computers at least as much as they are on TV” and using “mobile phones, many of which are smart,” parents grapple with overseeing what media their kids are exposed to, Genachowski said. “Parents are concerned, confused and in general I think feel disempowered with exercising parental responsibilities with respect to kids.” The commission will study whether it can take additional “informational” or other actions, he said.

Some Media Bureau staffers spend their days trying to solve the “challenges” of DTV stations in “maximizing their audience” (CD Aug 19 p3), Genachowski said. Raising power levels solves some DTV problems, but “of course every time you turn up the dial a little bit it costs broadcasters a little bit more, too,” he added. “Hopefully broadcasters will seize the opportunities provided by digital transmission.” That will help the industry after an “expensive” and “difficult” DTV conversion, Genachowski said. With 10-15 million Americans dependent on terrestrial TV, “the health of the broadcast industry remains very important,” he said. “And the commission’s doors are open to ideas on ways to promote a healthy broadcasting industry in ways that promote the public interest.”

Genachowski also said he wants to revamp the way the FCC communicates with the public. “There’s a lot of work to do to fully revamp the new media operations of the commission,” he said. The goal is to reach all possible constituents, including ordinary Americans, academics and businesses. Genachowski said he’s pleased that the commission, in developing the broadband plan, has used new media, including a new blog and Twitter feed on Broadband.gov and Web conferencing software that lets people across the country watch workshops and ask questions at them. “These are all still early, [and] we still think of them as being in beta,” he said. - Howard Buskirk, Adam Bender, Jonathan Make