Adam Bender

A House deal on net neutrality suffered a major setback Wednesday when House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, opposed a legislative effort by Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Waxman had been waiting for Republicans to sign off on his draft bill and didn’t introduce anything before our deadline. The House planned to adjourn Wednesday night, unless the Senate hadn’t wrapped up the continuing spending resolution, and it won’t return until after the November elections, a House leadership aide said. Committee members Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told us they don’t expect net neutrality action during the lame-duck session.

Requiring FM chips in cellphones is a “great idea,” Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., told the NAB radio show Wednesday. The retiring member of the House Commerce Committee also reemphasized his support for a commercial auction of the D-block and opposition to legislation imposing performance royalties on broadcasters. Earlier, departing Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said he doubted Congress would take up either the DISCLOSE Act or performance royalty legislation any time soon.

The Senate was notified by “hotline” Tuesday afternoon that a bipartisan bill to provide each FCC commissioner’s office an electrical engineer or computer scientist (S-2881) was set for unanimous consent passage unless a senator objected. The hotline deadline had not been reached at our deadline. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and is similar to HR-4809 by Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif. The Congressional Budget Office in April said the Senate bill would cost $7 million from 2011 to 2015 (CD April 9 p6).

House Democrats are now eyeing lame-duck passage of their net neutrality bill, two House staffers said Tuesday. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., may introduce the measure Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, they said Tuesday afternoon. Republicans were still reviewing the net neutrality draft bill Tuesday afternoon, House and industry officials said. Observers don’t expect Congress to pass the bill, but it could send a message to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that he shouldn’t reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act (CD Sept 28 p1).

The FCC wouldn’t be able to reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, under draft net neutrality legislation circulating in the House. The proposed law, which if enacted would sunset at the end of 2012, would allow the FCC only to adjudicate violations case by case, and would treat wireless and wireline networks differently. Discussions were ongoing Monday afternoon, with the details “still in a great amount of flux,” said a House staffer.

Members of the House continued to seek consensus Friday on a net neutrality deal (CD Sept 23 p10), but no one introduced a bill. Introduction is still possible next week, a House aide said, but time is running out for this Congress. The House is due to adjourn Oct. 8 but may leave a week early. A post-election session is possible. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday the House will be in session next week and not go home until it completes a continuing resolution on federal spending. “But the end of the fiscal year [is] September 30, and we've targeted all of our work to be finished by the end of the fiscal year,” she said.

The U.S. should find more commercial spectrum to promote mobile smart grid technologies, said wireless manufacturers at a Hill briefing Friday afternoon, hosted by the Telecommunications Industry Association. Spectrum is critical to new cellphone apps designed to help users conserve energy, said Jason Scism, a lobbyist for Research in Motion and former aide to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. “More spectrum and allowing that spectrum to be used by marketplace demand would go a long way” to spurring smart-grid growth, agreed Qualcomm Vice President Dean Brenner. “Cellular networks are very well situated” to provide the communications platform for the smart grid, he said. Requiring utilities to provide consumers with machine-readable data about their energy usage would also promote the development of new smart grid devices and applications, said TIA energy consultant Joseph Andersen. That was a recommendation in the National Broadband Plan. Government incentives for buying and developing smart grid technologies, and a coordinated awareness campaign by the White House, utilities, and federal and state governments are other ways to promote adoption of smart grid equipment, Andersen said. The Qualcomm and RIM officials cited several smart grid tools that use cellular technology. Qualcomm is working on putting cellular technology into electric vehicle charging stations to help drivers find a location to charge up, Brenner said. RIM has an app that adjusts home heating and air-conditioning based on the user’s proximity to their home, Scism said.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., will hold as many hearings as it takes to pass his public safety bill, the Senate Commerce Committee chairman said at a hearing Thursday. He conceded Congress probably won’t pass legislation this year. His bill (S-3756) would give the 700 MHz D-block to public safety, and fund the network with money from incentive auctions of broadcaster spectrum. Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she’s “prepared to support” the Rockefeller bill, but still has funding questions. Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett maintained that the government should commercially auction the D-block.

A Capitol Hill deal on net neutrality looks increasingly unlikely, Hill staffers said Wednesday. A Senate agreement probably won’t be made before Congress adjourns next month, a Senate staffer said. Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., of the Senate Communications Subcommittee said Tuesday (CD Sept 22 p1) he was working with ranking member John Ensign, D-Nev., on a “compromise concept.” Kerry and Ensign’s offices “are in constant communication but have not reached a consensus on the specifics of a compromise on network neutrality,” the staffer said. “With the clock running out on this session, it is unlikely that we will produce anything prior to adjournment. But the issue is not going away and the senators will continue listening to each other and working with each other as well as other colleagues on the committee to encourage outcomes that all participants in the market and consumers can understand, respect, and comply with.” Meanwhile, the House is still looking for consensus. The pieces aren’t in place to introduce a bill, a House staffer told us. A measure could still drop Thursday or even Friday, but it’s “now or never,” said the staffer.

Legislation for a public safety network probably won’t pass this year, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told us after a news conference Tuesday afternoon. McCain has a bill with Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., that would give the 700 MHz D-block to public safety agencies. After they introduced it, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., introduced his own bill to do the same. Since Rockefeller is chairman of the Commerce Committee, “I think that’s a good thing, and I look forward to working with him,” McCain said. He said he hasn’t seen Rockefeller’s bill, but he hopes to read it.