Communications Act Section 706 provides a framework “sufficient...
Communications Act Section 706 provides a framework “sufficient to give us the authority to adopt and implement robust rules” for net neutrality protections, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will tell the House Communications Subcommittee Tuesday, according to his written testimony (http://1.usa.gov/R185ns).…
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The subcommittee scheduled an FCC oversight hearing for 10:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn, with Wheeler as the sole witness. Wheeler described the virtues of his net neutrality NPRM, begun last week in a 3-2 vote (CD May 16 ). “The Notice we adopted asks whether the best path forward is under Title II,” Wheeler said. “The entire purpose of an NPRM is to give Americans the ability to express themselves and provide analysis and guidance.” Wheeler’s 12-page testimony addressed many FCC initiatives, from process overhaul to spectrum auctions to retransmission consent. “We recognize the Subcommittee’s particular interest in ensuring that broadcasters found to be out of compliance with our rules have sufficient time to unwind the arrangements, and we look forward to working with you as these rules go into effect,” Wheeler plans to tell the subcommittee, referring to the lawmakers’ recent provisions in its Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act legislation. “The new rules apply only to JSAs [joint sales agreements], not Shared Services Agreements.” The GOP memo for the hearing outlined many issues that may come up and attacked the FCC’s attempts to overhaul its own processes. Since Wheeler’s testimony before Congress in December, “indications are that self-reform is in jeopardy,” the memo said (http://1.usa.gov/1o8a4Cq). “For example, early signs of retrenchment began with the release of a statement from the Chief of the Media Bureau announcing a new Commission policy with regard to broadcast TV transactions. As described above, this action, taken at the Bureau level, changed the official policy of the Commission without a vote or deliberation of the Commissioners.” The Democratic memo highlighted other key topics, such as E-rate overhaul and Comcast’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable (http://1.usa.gov/1o8a4Cq). Democrats circulated a supplemental memo defending FCC spectrum aggregation policies planned for the incentive auction (http://1.usa.gov/1hYj8or).