Verizon's Grillo Urges Net Neutrality Legislative Fix; Twitter's Crowell More Wary

For legislation to be enacted and sustained, a basic consensus is necessary on what needs fixing and the appropriate fix, said Colin Crowell, Twitter vice president-global public policy, questioning whether the conditions exist. He said net neutrality principles have been "wildly successful" in encouraging U.S. internet innovation and companies that were global leaders. Before increasing uncertainty with a major legislative battle, he said, more attention needs to be paid to the core problems and potential remedies. "What's wrong right now that needs to be adjusted?" he asked. "We like the current rules." Almost all parties now generally support an open internet, but "God or the devil" is in the details, he said.

A "lot of troubling signs" are coming out of Congress and the FCC about net neutrality, Lifeline USF subsidies and broadband privacy, said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. "These are pretty popular things outside the Beltway," he said, saying media consolidation is another concern. Wood voiced skepticism about comprehensive legislation to update the Communications Act.

Grillo recognized a complete overhaul is a heavy lift and could take time, but she said lawmakers should move ahead and at least seek targeted legislative solutions on net neutrality and other ripe issues. Stakeholders should get together and work out a "reasonable middle ground," she said. Crowell said Twitter is open to efforts to refine statutory directives, as long as they’re focused on establishing clear and enforceable "rules of the road" that promote investment and economic activity. "It's about the art of the possible," said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield, calling broadband an "equalizer" in rural America, where there's a lot of economic "discontent." Incompas CEO Chip Pickering quipped that Twitter and rural America were key to President Donald Trump's election.

TechFreedom President Berin Szoka agreed basic policy shouldn't swing wildly from election to election. He said there had been a "deal on the table" for two years that would codify net neutrality protections while constraining FCC legal authority. Unfortunately, then-President Barack Obama wouldn't let congressional Democrats agree to a compromise, he said.

M&A

Scrutiny over telecom mergers and acquisitions also was a topic.

Public Knowledge President Gene Kimmelman doubted DOJ would welcome another Sprint/T-Mobile merger attempt. The companies could present new arguments supporting a combination, but "my guess is [DOJ] will start off very skeptical." He also took some solace from Trump's expressed concerns about media consolidation.

Szoka said nobody could predict what Trump would do on transactions. He expects FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to look at the commission's role more "narrowly." There could well be deals, such as AT&T/Time Warner, where the FCC will have no jurisdiction to review license transfers, he said. Where the commission does have jurisdiction, he expected it to be more deferential to the antitrust competition analysis of the DOJ and FTC.

The DOJ/FTC mandate is to prevent deals likely to cause substantial competitive harms, said Kimmelman. He said the antitrust enforcers don't have the same charge to proactively promote competition, which the FCC does under the Communications Act. Vertical combinations of content and distribution are difficult for the DOJ and FTC to deal with because even where they cause harms, the agencies generally are reluctant to impose conditions that require ongoing monitoring and enforcement, he said. If the FCC doesn't robustly scrutinize competitive aspects of deals, there could be a "gap" in oversight, he said.

Szoka said the DOJ or FTC could delegate enforcement of some conditions to the FCC. But he doesn't expect the FCC to exercise "carte blanche" public interest authority to impose heavy conditions on merging companies. Kimmelman disputed the FCC's authority was unconstrained, since it's governed by the "four corners" of the Communications Act. He also said the FCC couldn't impose unconstitutional conditions on merger companies. "But they can extract them," shot back Szoka.

Infrastructure

Vice President Charles McKee said Sprint is focused on "clearing away some of the roadblocks" to deploying the "tens of thousands" and even "hundreds of thousands" of cell sites needed to roll out 5G service. Most of these cell sites are small and "densified," using "distributed" antennas, not major towers, but require the company to deal with every level of government.

BT believes the U.S. is at a critical point in telecom competition, said Sheba Chacko, head of global operational and Americas regulation: "We see a rejection of regulation as a way to achieve competitive outcomes. We see a lot of consolidation." Wireless deployment is going strong, but BT isn't as confident on the fixed broadband side, she said.

CLECs continue to play in important but "difficult" role in providing wireline competition, said Malena Barzilai, Windstream senior government affairs counsel: Unless the FCC ensures certain regulatory "guard rails" it will be increasingly difficult to provide business customers with effective competition and choice. She said CLEC advocates would continue to press lawmakers to keep competitive protections, calling attention to the small businesses, schools, libraries and healthcare providers that are telecom customers in their states and districts.

Officials of Google, Lumos Networks and others detailed their efforts to deploy fiber, and their struggles with incumbents, building landlords and some local authorities. "One-touch, make-ready" practices are particularly important for streamlining cumbersome pole-attachment processes, said John Burchett, head of public policy for Google Access and Google Fiber. Many "local governments are super helpful," he said. "You’ve got to dramatically reduce deployment costs for new entrants to come into the market," he said. "And [deployment] time," added Mary McDermott, Lumos general counsel. "Time is money," said Burchett.

Several Incompas speakers voiced interest in Pai's new Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. The committee also got plaudits from a NARUC official; the association also met this week (see 1702150049).