Comm Daily Notebook

it,” Stearns, the House Communications Subcommittee’s ranking member, said on an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators recorded to telecast Saturday. The plan sets good goals that could be achieved by the market without government intervention, he said. Stearns said he supports shifting USF to support broadband, but he doesn’t support “spending a lot of government money.” He criticized the broadband stimulus for funding projects for underserved people rather than just for unserved ones. Stearns also worries that the plan could lead to new unbundling mandates, which he said could punish companies that build infrastructure. Also on the show, Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., of the House Communications Subcommittee said he believes Congress can act on the National Broadband Plan’s recommendation that the government find $16 billion for a nationwide public safety network. “As difficult as it is to obtain appropriations these days for new projects, this is an area where we can obtain bipartisan cooperation and a bipartisan commitment to provide the critical funding that is necessary” to help public safety. On spectrum, Boucher said he hopes to get his inventory legislation “through the House of Representatives within the course of this month.” The House Commerce Committee approved the bill this month, and a similar bill awaits Senate votes. Boucher called a recommendation in the plan to set up a low-cost, ad-supported wireless broadband network a “good idea,” but he said he’s “not sure the federal government has any role in either mandating or supervising that.” Stearns said he has mixed feelings about the idea, because he believes prices will naturally come down without government intervention. FCC commissioners will take questions from Boucher’s and Stearns’ committee at a hearing Thursday.