Friday’s closed-door Capitol Hill staff meeting with industry representatives on updating the Telecom Act will tackle a wide array of hot spectrum policy issues, based on preparatory questions e-mailed to invited participants by the House Commerce Committee. The meeting is to start at 11 a.m. in Room 2123, Rayburn House Office Building. Committees refused Thursday to disclose which groups were invited to join House and Senate Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee staffers at the meeting. But Hill and industry officials said to expect another crowded meeting of 30-odd participants, albeit composed of different groups from the first two meetings. In the e-mail to invitees, the committee asked if the FCC could fully act on National Broadband Plan spectrum recommendations under its existing authority, and the relevance of differences between wireless and wireline/cable networks, and between terrestrial and satellite broadband services. The committee asked if there is a “spectrum crisis,” and if so how much and which spectrum is needed to address it. It asked how to balance the spectrum need by commercial providers with that of public safety operatives and national security agencies, and whether to promote unlicensed spectrum use and spectrum sharing as alternatives to licensed use. The committee asked how best to provide incentives to commercial and federal spectrum users to give up extra spectrum for commercial use, and if participants believed the FCC would get enough broadcasters “in the right places” to participate in incentive auctions proposed by the agency. And the committee asked how much government should manage auctions, including whether the FCC should impose caps or conditions on companies vying for spectrum.
The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved amended Internet accessibility legislation by Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Kerry, D-Mass., in a voice vote Thursday morning. The bill (S-3304) aims to increase the number of hearing aid-compatible phones, improve access to 911 emergency services, and expand and update closed captioning and video description requirements. Democrats and Republicans supported the bill, despite lingering concerns by consumer electronics companies (CD July 15 p12) .
CEA still has concerns about Internet accessibility legislation that Democrats are pushing to finish by July 26, the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it said. The Senate Commerce Committee plans Thursday to mark up a revised version of S-3304 by Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Kerry, D-Mass. An amendment by Pryor that circulated among lobbyists Wednesday didn’t relieve CEA’s concerns that the bill is too broad and imposes too many technical requirements, said Jason Oxman, a senior vice president of the association. CEA has similar concerns about the House version, by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. The association supports ensuring that its products are accessible but opposes mandates that dictate functionality, because it believes Congress should “leave innovation to the innovators,” Oxman said. CEA has been working with House and Senate members to improve the legislation and plans to continue “up to the point where it gets to the floor,” if necessary, he said. Other industry groups involved in the legislative discussions, including USTelecom, NCTA and CTIA, didn’t comment. USTelecom raised concerns about some technical aspects of the bill at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in May, but changes since seem to have resolved the association’s concerns, a telecom industry official said. The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, which has supported the legislation, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The House passed legislation to expand telework opportunities for federal workers after Republicans successfully tweaked it to their liking in a last-minute effort on the House floor Wednesday. The House voted 290-131 to approve an amended bill after voting 304-118 on a measure by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., that included changes to the bill that Issa said would ensure the legislation is “cost neutral,” as well as ensure federal employee integrity while telecommuting. The bill moves to the Senate.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., “would not be happy” if defense appropriations legislation took broadband stimulus money away from NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service, the Commerce Committee chairman told us after the senators’ policy lunch Tuesday. Earlier this month, the House passed and sent to the Senate a defense bill that would partially pay for new domestic spending using $602 million allocated to those agencies for broadband under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (CD July 6 p1) . Also, Rockefeller said that Senate negotiations on comprehensive cybersecurity legislation are “going well.” While some say working out differences between competing bills by Rockefeller and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., may be a challenge (CD July 12 p2), Rockefeller said there’s “not much” overlap and he believes the two senators can work something out.
Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, plans next week to offer his amendment to FCC budget legislation that would stop the commission from using Congressional funding to increase Internet regulation, his spokesman said Tuesday. “The amendment is still being drafted, but [Culberson] plans to offer it at the yet-to-be scheduled markup sometime next week” of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services, the spokesman said. Culberson previewed the proposed amendment at the subcommittee’s June hearing and again in an op-ed Monday (CD July 13 p8).
The White House may brief Hill staffers Friday on President Barack Obama’s recent spectrum announcement related to the National Broadband Plan, Hill and industry officials said. The same day, House and Senate Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee staffers are expected to meet with industry about spectrum issues in the third of a series of discussions about updating the Telecom Act. Massachusetts Democrats Rep. Ed Markey and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry are preparing major spectrum bills to complement the White House effort (CD June 29 p1). Their legislation may surface within the next two weeks, a wireless industry official said. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Cybersecurity is a legislative priority for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., his spokeswoman said. He and Senate committee chairmen hope to introduce and vote on a comprehensive bill this September, Senate staffers said. Challenges remain, including working out differences between two major bills by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and getting approval from Republicans and the House, said Senate and industry officials. Negotiations over the next three to four weeks will be critical, said an aide.
Comcast made new diversity commitments relating to the NBC Universal deal, including a promise to put $20 million into a venture capital fund. In a letter to Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and statements Thursday at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing in Chicago, Comcast executives emphasized increasing the presence of blacks and other minorities in employment and programs. The concessions came after criticisms by Rush and other members of Congress, as well as civil rights groups, of a lack of diversity at the two companies. Meanwhile, a new coalition, mostly of long-time foes of the deal, has formed.
It was “more of the same” in the second Hill talk among House and Senate Commerce Committee staffers and about 30 outside parties interested in updating the Telecom Act, said attendee Andrew Schwartzman, senior vice president of the Media Access Project. The gathering, held behind closed doors Friday morning in the Russell Senate Office Building, was a follow up to a June 25 meeting hosted by the House (CD June 28 p1). All attendees from the previous week except Sprint Nextel and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation returned.