USF Reform Will ‘Continue to Be Difficult,’ Clyburn Tells FCBA
CAMBRIDGE, Md. -- The FCC “transformed” the USF in a series of recent orders rather than just reforming it, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn told the FCBA’s annual retreat on Saturday. “It’s a perpetual transformation of a regime we all knew needed to be modernized,” she said. “I think we all knew it was going to be difficult and will continue to be difficult. … It’s a balancing act, but it’s one worth embarking on."
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Clyburn said she looks forward to having two new commissioners join the FCC, after nominees Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel are confirmed by the Senate as early as this week. “Five is a fabulous number,” she said. “What I look forward to and what I miss is that additional infusion of ideas.” It has been easy to move forward on various orders with a three-member commission, and finding consensus takes little time, she said, but “it will be fabulous to have the full complement” of members.
Clyburn said she expects lots of questions about the upcoming incentive auction of broadcast spectrum, interoperability issues “which mean a lot to me,” and how the FCC evaluates “in a macro sense” various deals that have been before the agency, as well as public inspection of broadcaster files, when she appears before the Senate Commerce Committee for an expected hearing this month. USF questions are likely from senators who represent large numbers of rural constituents, she said. Some members may ask about the 700 MHz waiver applicants still being considered by the FCC, she predicted. “There are a whole host of things that are on our docket,” she said. “It’s a little nerve wracking to be up there,” Clyburn said. “You're just on display and you just never know … who’s watching.”
One of the things she values most from advocates who come to her office is “candor” and the willingness to engage on the issues at hand, Clyburn said. “While it’s true that I do not have a law degree, I do listen. I take a lot of notes,” she said. “I do read the materials in front of me. … Don’t take things for granted. I want you to give me a balanced exchange.” Clyburn “majored in finance and economics, so I care about the business environment,” she said. “I care about a healthy ecosystem, but I also care about consumer engagement.” Clyburn said she’s not afraid to make some unhappy in the decisions she makes as an FCC member. “I do it with a smile,” she said. “One of the great things about coming from a state commission, I spent 11 years [on] a state commission, is I got a little practice on a local level with that. I got a lot of people mad back home.” Clyburn said that when she became a commissioner she committed to run an open office and to explain her decisions, not that “we'll agree on every single thing."
Clyburn told us she did not feel pressure to fill a hole left by Michael Copps, the FCC’s senior Democrat, after he left at the end of last year. “There are certain expectations out there that, quite frankly, I hope I live up to,” she said. “My background is different. My style is different. I haven’t been in D.C. as long. … At our core we have similar concerns.”