Feld, McDowell, WISPA To Testify on Four Telecom Measures Tuesday
Three witnesses will testify Tuesday before the House Communications Subcommittee at its 10:15 a.m. legislative hearing in 2123 Rayburn, said a GOP staff memo released Friday. It said the witnesses are: former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, now with Wiley Rein;…
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Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld; and Aristotle President Elizabeth Bowles on behalf of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association. The hearing is on four telecom measures (see 1601050058) that the GOP staff memo defended. The FCC’s net neutrality order doesn’t prohibit broadband rate regulation despite the agency saying it has no intentions to do that, the memo argued, thus creating the need for legislation. “First, the FCC retains the ability to regulate the rates for broadband through its enforcement authority," the GOP memo said. "Sections 201 and 202 of the Communications Act provide authority to ensure that the rates charged for telecommunications services are just and reasonable. Through this authority, the FCC can engage in after-the-fact ratemaking by using enforcement decisions to define the contours of what the FCC deems a ‘reasonable’ rate.” The order also contains nothing preventing future FCC chairs from such regulation, the memo said. Net neutrality advocates cautioned against the two of the four telecom measures that involve the net neutrality order (see 1601070051).