Walden Plans LightSquared, Cybersecurity Hearings in 2012

The full Commerce Committee may mark up the two FCC reform bills (HR-3309, HR-3310) on Feb. 7, Walden said. Democrats staunchly opposed HR-3309 in subcommittee markup last year. Walden said Democrats still only agree with the provision allowing closed-door meetings of more than two FCC commissioners. Walden expects more Democratic support for HR-3310, which would consolidate many of the FCC’s reports. Democrats’ previous concerns with that bill should be resolved by an amendment at markup, a Walden aide said. As an example of FCC opaqueness, Walden cited the commission’s refusal to send the committee the Universal Service Fund revamp document adopted by commissioners before the order’s release.

The subcommittee plans hearings on “the collision that has become LightSquared [and] GPS,” Walden said. One hearing would focus on FCC process and the other on receiver standards, Walden said. “I don’t understand a process where someone buys the spectrum put forth by the FCC to use for a purpose only to discover later on you can’t use what you just bought because of interference issues with another user,” he said. On receiver standards, Walden wants to find out if there are “very sloppy frontends on these receivers” and if the U.S. is losing valuable spectrum as a result. “How many of these little 10 meg guard bands in pretty valuable spectrum do we have?"

The subcommittee plans to dig into cybersecurity in a hearing that will happen “sooner rather than later,” Walden said. “I think there’s a real threat to commercial networks.” The Commerce Committee has participated in cybersecurity task force meetings, a Walden aide said. Later in the year, the subcommittee plans a series of hearings on the future of audio, video and data, Walden said. They will be “broader” than the video competition and Cable Act hearings (CD Dec 22 p1) suggested by Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. They will discuss what’s coming, convergence and what policies may be outdated, Walden said.

Negotiations over spectrum legislation will happen in the context of the House-Senate conference on the payroll tax cut bill, Walden said. The House already passed its version of the bill, he said. Walden and full committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., are conferees. It could be an issue that none of the conferees are on the Senate Commerce Committee, Walden said. “So we're literally trying to figure out how the negotiations are going to take place.” It’s “important” that spectrum stays in the payroll tax cut bill, Walden said. Since the overall payroll bill needs provisions to pay for its expenses, “it would cause a problem if it dropped out."

The FCC seems to be trying to exclude AT&T and Verizon Wireless from participating in voluntary incentive spectrum auctions, Walden said. Walden was “a little dismayed” by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s criticisms at the CES show about the House bill’s restrictions on FCC auction conditions. “We tried to leave them flexibility,” Walden said. His staff met with FCC staff to work on that language in the bill, he said. “The only reason I can think that the chairman is upset about that provision is because he wants to exclude one of the two major carriers from participating in an auction,” he said. That’s bad public policy and could devalue the auction, he said. If the FCC is concerned about companies taking too much, it can still use its authority after the auction to apply a spectrum screen, Walden said. The FCC could also do auctions on a regional basis, he said. Wireless Bureau Chief Rick Kaplan has said the FCC intends for every size carrier that needs more spectrum to have a chance to participate (CD Jan 17 p4).

The subject of spectrum came up at the House-Senate conference’s first public meeting on Tuesday. Spectrum legislation as proposed by the House would raise “more than $16.5 billion that can help serve as a pay-for within the broader bill,” Upton told the conference. Waxman said he objected at the meeting to several elements of the House spectrum bill. Walden responded Wednesday that the GOP spent one year negotiating with Waxman, and the ranking member had four years before that as chairman to pass his own spectrum bill.