President Barack Obama complained in his State of the Union...
President Barack Obama complained in his State of the Union address Tuesday night of an “incomplete high-speed broadband network.” The unfinished network “prevents the small-business owner from selling her products all over the world,” he said. Obama also urged Congress…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
to pass cybersecurity legislation. Obama sought tax changes benefiting the tech industry. “If you're a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax reduction you get for making your products here.” And Obama announced a trade enforcement unit to investigate counterfeiting and piracy by China and other countries. After the speech, House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., blamed the FCC for the incomplete broadband network. The FCC “is protecting its turf instead of joining us to free up airwaves to build the next generation communications networks,” Upton said. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., praised Obama’s comments on cybersecurity and broadband. “I have been working for years to address our country’s vulnerability to cyber-attacks and believe now is the time for Congress to act,” Rockefeller said. Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said senators are “committed to bringing bipartisan cybersecurity legislation to the floor in the next few weeks.” In industry statements, broadband providers unsurprisingly praised the president’s call for more broadband. “As this administration moves forward on this initiative,” said National Telecommunications Cooperative Association President Shirley Bloomfield, “I urge them to ensure that actions by our federal agencies support, rather than undermine, the independent telecom companies that are key to connecting and employing rural Americans.” The Information Technology Industry Council hopes “Republicans and Democrats put aside partisan differences in this election season and realize that specific ideas -- tax reform, spectrum auctions for mobile broadband, high-skilled labor regulatory reform, improved trade, and smart cybersecurity, just to name a few, are essential ingredients to short-term job creation and a long-term recovery,” ITI President Dean Garfield said. TechAmerica acting President Dan Varroney urged Obama to “follow through” on his tech goals.