Adam Bender

The U.S. must preserve network neutrality, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said at a broadband summit Tuesday at the University of Minnesota. Genachowski said he still feels “very strongly” about enforcing open Internet principles. He also urged Congress to speedily fund a nationwide, interoperable wireless broadband network for public safety.

Cellphone tax law, public safety, cybersecurity and universal service are among issues expected to get Congressional attention when members return from recess next month, Hill and industry officials said. But with elections in early November, Congress is quickly running out of time to finish pending legislation on those and other matters. “On telecom, the final few weeks will mostly be about laying the groundwork for a busy 2010-11 in areas like spectrum, privacy and broadband regulation,” said Concept Capital analyst Paul Gallant.

Congress shouldn’t require mobile devices to include FM-radio chips, six manufacturers and wireless service providers said in a letter Monday to House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders of both parties. CTIA, CEA, TechAmerica, the Telecommunications Industry Association, Rural Cellular Association and Information Technology Industry Council questioned the NAB’s and MusicFirst’s right to make the proposal in the groups’ performance royalty talks. The CEA and CTIA had objected to any legislation sought by radio broadcasters and music labels requiring chips in cellphones (CD Aug 16 p5).

Sorenson was alone seeking one compensation rate for all video relay service providers under the interstate Telecom Relay Service fund, in comments at the FCC last week. Sorenson is the biggest VRS provider and is paid the least under the current system. Responding to a notice of inquiry about taking a “fresh look” at the VRS program and reducing fraud, Sorenson’s rivals and consumer groups representing the deaf urged the FCC to maintain the current tiered approach, with some minor changes.

In what could be a messy November election for Democrats, telecom industry lobbyists are closely watching the re-elections of several members active on their issues. Those races include House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and subcommittee members Zack Space, D-Ohio, and Lee Terry, R-Neb. They also include Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Senate Commerce Committee member Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. Boucher has a large financial advantage over his Republican opponent and political analysts and others give him the edge.

Former Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens died in a plane crash on the way to a fishing lodge in Alaska Monday night, state officials announced Tuesday. He was 86. Bill Phillips, previously an outside consultant to NCTA, was among the eight others also on the flight. Officials said there were four survivors, but named only ex-NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and his son. The plane and fishing lodge were owned by Alaskan telecom carrier GCI. The carrier didn’t immediately say what was the purpose of the outing.

The Senate passed amended Internet accessibility legislation Thursday night by unanimous consent. The amendment by sponsor Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., revised the bill to bring it more in line with the version passed last month by the House (CD July 27 p7) . Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who has blocked many bills this Congress, placed a temporary hold on the measure, but lifted it after his staff vetted the legislation. The bill now moves to the House. The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technologies supports S-3304 and hopes the House will pass it next week when members return for a brief session, said Jenifer Simpson, a senior director of the American Association of People with Disabilities. “Passage of this bill is a landmark achievement in the fight for equal access to technology for all Americans,” said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., sponsor of the House companion bill. “Now that both the House and Senate have acted, I look forward to proceeding and getting legislation to President Obama for his signature.” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said, “This bill will help Americans with disabilities stay interconnected in our fast, and ever-evolving technological landscape.” The cable industry appreciated “the willingness of these leaders to work with industry and all interested parties in molding legislation that identifies achievable goals and addresses these vital issues in a constructive fashion,” said NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow.

Commerce Committee leaders on Capitol Hill seem at loggerheads over the right approach to building a public safety network. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., on Thursday night introduced a bill to give the D-block to public safety, as expected (CD Aug 6 p9). The measure clashes with legislation being drafted by House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who wants to codify the National Broadband Plan’s recommendation to commercially auction the 700 MHz spectrum. Public safety has vocally criticized the FCC and Waxman’s approach.

A bill to improve the country’s response time to cyber attacks on the electric grid was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in a markup Thursday morning. The committee technically approved the GRID Act (HR-5026) by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., but agreed to an amendment that completely replaced the House bill’s text with that of the Senate’s American Clean Energy Leadership Act (S-1462), a broader energy bill that has been awaiting votes by the full Senate since last summer. As in the original Markey bill, the amended Senate bill would authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to quickly address cybersecurity threats to the grid. The GRID Act passed the House in June (CD June 10 p13) , and was one of several bills flagged by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., for inclusion in comprehensive cybersecurity legislation. That broader bill is expected to surface after the August recess (CD July 28 p8) . Markey hopes to work with the Senate “on final language that reflects the best ideas in both the House and Senate bills,” he said in a statement Thursday. “The electric grid’s vulnerability to cyber and other attacks is one of the single greatest threats to our national security. I am encouraged to see legislation moving in the Senate and I am hopeful that the full chamber soon gives this critical issue the attention it deserves.”

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., planned to introduce his spectrum bill Thursday night or Friday, before the Senate left for August recess, a Senate staffer told us Thursday. The Senate Commerce Committee chairman may have a hearing on the bill and public safety issues in September, the staffer said. Rockefeller had a long meeting with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Tuesday, and the senator felt they saw “eye to eye on various issues,” the staffer said. Rockefeller has divulged little about the bill since he announced it last month (CD July 22 p1), except that it would authorize voluntary auctions and give the D-block to public safety. At the FCC meeting Thursday, Genachowski declined to say whether the FCC will delay action on a proposed order for the 700 MHz D-block in light of the Rockefeller bill. “Sen. Rockefeller and I agree very strongly on what the goal here is, which is to get a mobile broadband public safety network built for first responders in the U.S. that’s interoperable,” he said. “We proposed a path to get there in the National Broadband Plan. Sen. Rockefeller has a different path.” Finding a way to pay for the network remains the biggest challenge, Genachowski said. “We continue to work with Sen. Rockefeller and other members of Congress to figure out how we get from here to there as quickly as possible.”