A combination of legislation and industry self-regulation is the best way to shore up the FCC’s authority over broadband, said AT&T and Time Warner Cable executives. The ISP officials and others condemned FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s “third way” proposal in a panel discussion Tuesday co-hosted by the Information Technology & Information Foundation and the Free State Foundation. A technology-based answer by industry would be ideal, said BitTorrent CEO Eric Klinker.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Deputy Managing Editor for Privacy Daily. Bender leads a team of journalists and reports on state privacy legislation, rulemaking and litigation. In previous roles at Communications Daily, he covered telecom and internet policy in the states, Congress and at the FCC. He has won awards for his reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW). Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of multiple dystopian sci-fi novels. Keep up to date with Bender by reading his blog and following him on social media including Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn.
A draft spectrum bill by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., emphasizes that it should be entirely voluntary for broadcasters to give up spectrum. As reported (CD May 27 p10), the bill would codify the National Broadband Plan goals of making 500 MHz of spectrum available over 10 years for wireless broadband, 300 MHz of it within five years, and amend Section 309(j)(8) of the Communications Act to set up incentive auctions under which the government could split auction proceeds with broadcasters that give up spectrum. An eight-page draft we received uses the word “voluntary” and variants of it nine times.
Government and industry officials disagreed over how far along interoperability standards are for public safety wireless communications. At a House Technology Subcommittee hearing Thursday, witnesses from Harris and Motorola said work on Project-25 (P25) standards for public safety, started in 1989, are mostly finished. But officials from the Homeland Security Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology pointed to interoperability gaps remaining.
House and Senate sponsors of Internet accessibility bills hope to pass the legislation this year. At a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., said he aims to have S-3304, which he co-sponsored with Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., ready for President Barack Obama’s signature this year. Kerry said he hopes to address concerns raised by USTelecom “in the next few days.” Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who has a similar bill in the House (HR-3101), agreed in testimony that the bill should be passed this year.
The three legislators most likely to be the next House Commerce Committee Republican leader have been active on telecom in the Communications Subcommittee. Current Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, could have to relinquish his post after the November election due to a House GOP caucus rule limiting Republicans to three two-year terms at the top of committees, whether the party is in the majority or minority. Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., wants the job, his spokesman said. Telecom industry lobbyists said Reps. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and John Shimkus, R-Ill., may have a better shot.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is drafting spectrum legislation related to the National Broadband Plan goal of freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum over 10 years for wireless broadband, a Markey spokesman told us Tuesday. He didn’t give more details.
Though time is quickly running out for the 111th Congress, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., told us Tuesday he intends to push forward with a proposal to examine whether the Telecom Act needs to be rewritten. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., conceded in a separate interview that time is short.
Congress will develop proposals to update the Communications Act, Democratic Commerce Committee leaders in both houses said Monday. The process will be headed by House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and their Senate counterparts Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and John Kerry, D-Mass. Telcos, broadcasters and Public Knowledge were among those who backed the effort at our deadline.
House Oversight Committee leaders seemed poised at a hearing Thursday to act to accelerate government agencies’ transition to Networx. That’s a General Services Administration program under which federal agencies can buy telecom, network and information services. Agencies must sign on to the program by June 2011, the expiration date for the GSA’s old telecom program, FTS2001. The transition is behind schedule for several reasons, said government and industry officials.
Legislators urged tightened security of veterans’ health and financial information at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In a House Veterans Affairs Oversight Subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans grilled department officials on steps they're taking to prevent breaches. Roger Baker, chief information officer of the department, admitted weaknesses but cited progress shifting the department’s culture to preclude future threats.