Copps Says National Plan Must Deal With Digital Divide

It will take vigilance to ensure that vulnerable groups such as residents of tribal lands and people with disabilities aren’t forgotten in the push for more broadband deployment, Copps said. Strong open Internet principles are crucial, he said, praising Genachowski’s proposal to codify and add to the current principles. “Anyone looking to in creating new opportunities and build digital inclusiveness … should be on board with this effort,” Copps said. In an allusion to the disagreement in the minority community about net neutrality, he said it “would be a lost opportunity of huge proportions for diversity champions to become doubting Thomases when it comes to preserving the bedrock of Internet openness.” To get the proceeding “done right,” Copps said, “we will need a truly united front of open Internet advocates.”

Media consolidation remains a concern, brought to the fore by the proposed Comcast-NBCU merger, Copps said. “This particular transaction has all sorts of far-reaching implications for media both old and new,” he said. “The Commission will look at the Comcast combination in all its many dimensions, but in the end it will come down to one question: How would approval advance the public interest?”

“I am frightened, genuinely scared, by the erosion of public interest guidelines from our oversight at the FCC,” Copps said. Policymakers could require broadcasters seeking license renewals to show, “not in a burdensome way but in a credible way,” that they have served the public with local news and information, he said. “Granting slam-dunk license renewals without any semblance of public interest review is not what the statute envisions or what the public interest requires.” Copps also said it’s “not unpatriotic” to talk about the possibility of public support for media.

Meanwhile, communications issues on the Hill are taking a back seat to health care legislation, said top House and Senate Commerce Committee aides. Satellite reauthorization legislation is likely to get passed soon, they said. There’s bipartisan agreement on major issues, and only a few details need to be ironed out, aides said. The bill could be included in a defense-appropriations bill, considered a must-pass measure.

A new communications agenda will emerge next year on the Hill, and it could include consideration of universal service legislation and a spectrum inventory bill. There’s little agreement on what to do with USF, said James Reid, the Senate Commerce Committee’ deputy chief of staff. Policy should stress how best to serve the public, he said. Congress can send the FCC a “strong signal” about what the program should look like, but the discussion will take time, Reid said.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, the committee’s ranking member, isn’t eager to see any more USF provisions than “absolutely necessary,” said Brian Hendricks, the committee’s Republican chief counsel. Hutchison is “broadly supportive” of the program, he added. Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is a strong supporter of the fund’s E-rate program and will want to make sure it continues to serve the needs of rural areas, Reid said. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has shown his willingness to work with Republicans to overhaul the USF, said David Cavicke, the committee’s minority chief of staff. Republicans are eager to see the fund’s resources go to unserved areas, he said.

Reauthorization of the Federal Trade Commission probably will get attention next year, aides said. The commission is seeking expanded powers, and a consumer financial protection bill that proposes moving some FTC work to a new agency may lack support in the Commerce Committee, Hendricks said. Cybersecurity legislation will be a major emphasis for Rockefeller next year, Reid said.

Broadband, USF Lead FCC Priorities

The National Broadband Plan will be a “starting point” for rule changes, setting up a series of rulemakings at the FCC next year, said Wireline Bureau Chief Sharon Gillett. The plan won’t settle issues but rather “lay out the direction to resolve” them, she said. The plan will be so broad that it would take too much work to include highly detailed recommendations in it by the February deadline, Gillett said. Many changes need to be worked on by the bureaus with the suitable experience, she said.

The Wireline Bureau has been working very closely with the commission’s broadband task force on the plan because so many of their issues intersect, Gillett said. The plan has heightened the importance of tackling the Universal Service Fund, Gillett said. USF is a “thorny issue,” she said: “We need to break savings out of the system, protect customers, avoid flash cuts, while ultimately moving USF in the direction it needs to go to support our 21st century platform for innovation.” As the FCC considers its broadband plan and USF, it must also think about how intercarrier compensation fits in, she said.

The Wireline Bureau is carefully reviewing Verizon’s deals to sell access lines to Frontier -- particularly in light of the financial problems of FairPoint, another purchaser of Verizon lines, Gillett said. “Nobody wants a repeat of the problems that we saw with FairPoint,” she said. “We're scrutinizing that merger very carefully to make sure” it serves the public interest. The bureau also is considering proposed mergers including Comcast’s acquisition of Cimco, a Chicago competitive local exchange carrier, and the Comcast-NBC Universal combination, Gillett said. The Media Bureau is taking the lead on the NBC deal, she said.

Gillett said to expect forbearance action next year. The FCC is under a statutory deadline to answer by March 24 a Qwest forbearance petition for Phoenix. It’s also reviewing court remands of orders on forbearance petitions by Qwest and Verizon.

‘Middle Ground’ on Neutrality?

Comcast and AT&T officials said they believe common ground can be found on net neutrality rules being considered by the FCC. There’s “middle ground there around doing nothing versus complete nondiscrimination,” said Kathryn Zachem, Comcast vice president of regulatory and state legislative affairs, on a panel on wireline issues. There are “a lot of areas on openness” on which ISPs and neutrality advocates are in “complete agreement,” said AT&T Senior Vice President Bob Quinn. “Unfortunately, as we move into rules, the words matter,” because they could result in “unintended consequences,” he said. Quinn said he fears that rules proposed by the FCC could force AT&T out of content distribution.

No one is trying to put AT&T out of business, said Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott. The FCC hasn’t set any net neutrality rules yet, and discussion between the sides is critical, he said. “Too often the details of how we implement the rules distract from agreement on principles.”

Copps believes the FCC has “as much jurisdiction as we need” to make neutrality rules, said his wireline adviser, Jennifer Schneider. “But this is all blind territory, so we will be asking that question very often.” If rules are needed, government will find a way to make them, said Commissioner John Burke of the Vermont Public Service Board. If jurisdiction becomes a crucial question, Congress could answer it, he said.

The sides agreed that disclosure of information about residential service is important. Consumers want to know what they're buying, but few know what applications they can actually run with the speeds they're getting from ISPs, Scott said. Zachem agreed that disclosure is important, saying it “furthers our relationship with the customer.” Quinn said he doesn’t “necessarily believe that the commission needs a lot of rules, but I think the transparency part of this is a very important part.” Disclosure is the responsibility not just of ISPs but of all involved in the Internet, he added.

Schneider said ISPs alone have been under the microscope in the net neutrality proceeding, but Copps is paying attention to all Internet gatekeepers. Schneider called “fascinating” a contention by “some advocates” that the FCC shouldn’t “go too far” with ISP regulations, but it “should also extend that regulation” to content providers. Quinn joked, “I'm a fascinating guy.”

Framework to Make More Spectrum Available Expected

Replying to a question about the timing of making additional spectrum available, Ruth Milkman, the Wireless Bureau chief, said the agency must set up a framework quickly. It’s important to start the process now, she said. The consensus is that more spectrum will be required for mobile broadband as the U.S. wireless industry shifts from voice to data, she said. Commissioner Robert McDowell has a great deal to say about net neutrality, said Angela Giancarlo, his chief of staff and senior aide on wireless and international matters. McDowell doesn’t believe the Internet is broken and questions whether regulation would be the best solution if it were, she said. He hopes the commission will concentrate on freeing up capital, driving innovation and removing regulatory uncertainty in a tough economy, Giancarlo said. Collaboration on the federal and state levels is crucial to consumer protection, said Steven Zipperstein, a vice president at Verizon Wireless. There’s a huge role for wireless in the broadband plan, said Grant Spellmeyer, U.S. Cellular director of regulatory affairs. He said wireless broadband could substitute for fixed service, especially in rural areas, where installation is expensive. Small carriers care about competitive issues like access to spectrum and roaming, Spellmeyer said. Spectrum, infrastructure and funding are crucial pieces in putting together a national public safety network, Zipperstein said. Kathleen Ham, T- Mobile director of regulatory affairs, disagreed, saying public safety has enough spectrum. She proposed reviewing current spectrum as a first step. - Anne Veigle, Adam Bender Yu-Ting Wang