Broadband Team Urges Better Use of ‘Existing Assets’

Any policy changes require consideration of possible unintentional consequences, Levin said. Some new law will be needed, but the changes should be limited, he said. And it’s important that the document, due in February, be a “plan for America” that acknowledges differences between the U.S. and other countries, Levin said. That includes, for example, the fact that cable reaches many more homes in the U.S. than in other countries, he said.

USF will be a powerful tool for spreading broadband, but completing a comprehensive overhaul will take “quite some time,” Genachowski said. “It would be tempting and easy at some levels to choose to kick the can further down the road,” he said. But “the right choice is to begin to tackle this along with our colleagues in Congress and elsewhere” to turn the fund toward supporting broadband, Genachowski said. Afterward, he told reporters he doesn’t know how soon the FCC can revamp USF. An order late Tuesday said the FCC doesn’t expect to complete an overhaul by April 16, the date it committed to file its response to a court remand of an order about high-cost support for non-rural carriers. (See separate report in this issue.) “What we know is that we want the broadband plan to get us going,” Genachowski said. Asked whether any overhaul will get done during his term, the chairman said he’s “not ready to comment on specific timing,” but “we do need to make progress. … The longer we wait, the harder the challenge becomes.”

Genachowski said an emphasis on spectrum is also critical, because demand will soon outstrip supply. The FCC must look at policies to promote more spectrum and device efficiency and ensure that there’s enough spectrum for broadband. Industry must work alongside government to make high-speed access more affordable, Genachowski said. He praised the NCTA’s recently announced “Adoption Plus” effort and encouraged other business efforts. The chairman suggested that broadband providers offer a new “very basic” broadband-service tier.

USF resources are limited, and tradeoffs must be made to fix the fund, said Carol Mattey, a member of the FCC’s broadband team. Short term, the team is looking at cutting inefficient spending in the high-cost fund, removing barriers to using E-rate funds in schools for adoption and community use and extending the Rural Health Care Pilot Program, she said. The team’s options for long-term recommendations include moving the high-cost fund toward supporting broadband on a “predictable and timed” path, extending the Lifeline program to support broadband and designing a new rural health-care program, she said.

A large new spectrum allocation will be key to spurring broadband competition, said Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman. As options, the broadband team is looking at resolving pending proceedings like AWS-3 and WCS, as well as proposals to use TV spectrum, work with NTIA to identify federal spectrum, and look at terrestrial operations in mobile satellite spectrum, she said. The team is also considering ways to make more-productive use of current bands and the development of new technologies to support new spectrum uses, Milkman said. The U.S. should review spectrum allocations and management practices periodically, using an RF assessment tool to document current license and usage information, she said. And it should use spectrum fees and band-clearing auctions to improve market allocation, she said.

CableCARD rules haven’t brought the competition intended, and the U.S. lacks a vigorous market for set-top boxes, said Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake. The team is considering requiring video service providers to provide customers a small, low-cost, network-interface “gateway” bridging proprietary network elements with retail navigation devices, he said.

The team is considering setting up an independent nonprofit body to support government efforts to promote broadband uptake, said Brian David, the adoption director. The team hasn’t worked out details of setting up the body, he said.

The meeting may have felt like Groundhog Day to some, said Genachowski. “It can feel like elements of this we've heard before,” he said. “But it’s also a real testament to the process we've run,” which he described as public, data- focused and incremental. Now it’s time to “formulate policies and recommendations,” Genachowski said.

Afterward, public interest groups criticized the meeting for not providing bold enough recommendations to promote competition. “At a time when U.S. standing in the world is rapidly falling in broadband penetration and adoption, and when bold plans are called for, the Commission appears to be satisfied with taking incremental steps,” said Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn. “As the staff and Chairman Genachowski said, competition is the key to increasing our broadband capacities, yet nothing in the outline presented this morning would increase competition.” Free Press saw “almost nothing in this plan that would address the competition crisis in American broadband markets or rapidly advance American broadband networks to world-class quality,” said Policy Director Ben Scott. “The National Broadband Team is looking to tackle tough issues -- but without a comprehensive plan to boost competition other policy initiatives fall flat. Competition is the key for achieving faster, lower-priced broadband service.”

In a conference call with reporters after the meeting, Levin said many matters discussed at the meeting involve competition. Adding spectrum will increase the number of broadband providers, he said. The team is also looking at ways to promote more set-top box competition and to improve disclosure so consumers can make more informed choices about service purchases, he said. -- Adam Bender

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The FCC will soon take the wraps off its reboot.fcc.gov Web site, providing a forum for the public to suggest ideas and for improving the commission, Chairman Julius Genachowski said. The site has been open only to FCC staff. “This is the next step ultimately toward a full revamp of the FCC Web site to best serve a full range of customers of the FCC,” he said.