Democrats Eye NTIA Reauthorization as Vehicle for Spectrum, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Proposals

“I’m starting to work on some legislation to free up an additional of 20 MHz under 3 GHz available for commercial use,” said new subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa. CTIA President Meredith Baker said the wireless industry would be supportive. “It’s very important for the future that we have low-, middle- and high-band spectrum,” she said. Doyle said “maybe that’s something we can make part of this reauthorization” or perhaps a standalone bill or as part of a bigger infrastructure proposal.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., raised the idea of grants for vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies, calling it a possible priority for either NTIA reauthorization or a wider infrastructure package. John Kneuer, former NTIA administrator, told her during the hearing that the agency has the ability to administer such grants and has handled grant programs well. Anna Gomez, former acting administrator and now with Wiley Rein, told Dingell that NTIA staffers tend to be nimble and work well with other entities such as the Department of Transportation and state and local officials.

“I will be pursuing many ways of getting this accomplished, whether in a highway bill or NTIA reauthorization and look forward to working with stakeholders and my colleagues on the committee to ensure we're doing everything we can to help usher in this new era in mobility,” Dingell told us in a statement after the hearing.

Aides to subcommittee Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., didn’t comment on the intended scope of their NTIA authorization bill and whether they would be open to including such measures. “We are again turning our focus to federally held spectrum,” she said in her opening statement. “Broadband deployment is America’s greatest infrastructure challenge of this decade, and it is up to us to rise to the occasion.” She asked the former NTIA officials to supply ideas for improving the agency, in writing.

“NTIA’s responsibilities include not only the incubation of FirstNet but also the distribution of grants intended to incentivize states to deploy and support public safety answering points that can receive IP-based texts, voice, and video,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who didn’t attend the hearing, in his written opening statement. “This work hasn’t exactly gotten off to a roaring start, and it is high time we looked into moving that forward.”

Blackburn questioned the different funds at work at the NTIA. “Commissioner [Mike] O’Rielly at the FCC has also commented on his concern the way sometimes we don’t have one hand knowing what the other hand is doing,” she said. “What I’d like to hear from you is how best can NTIA work to coordinate those funds.”

Kneuer called lack of coordination “a fundamental challenge and problem” and noted the different institutions at work. “They sometimes have slightly different views and agendas,” he said. He urged consolidation of some of that jurisdiction, involving talks with other committees of jurisdiction and the White House, to help “tighten it up as much as possible” with a single place of oversight. Gomez agreed NTIA would play a good role in coordinating, saying the executive branch would be the best coordinator.

Baker, a former acting administrator, told Blackburn NTIA’s roles in streamlining, siting and spectrum are critical ways it can help facilitate the advent of 5G. “It takes an average of 18 months to site a tower,” Baker said at one point. “Japan and South Korea are right at our tails. … We need to make sure we can roll it out fast.” Doyle asked about Congress’ ability to strengthen NTIA to ensure it has “a seat at the table” when other agencies discuss tech. Gomez said that “anything Congress can do to bolster NTIA’s position” among other agencies would help. Baker, as expected (see 1702010063), said the administrator should be elevated to a subcabinet position, and the agency should implement some transparency measures.

Democrats in particular focused on the need to ensure NTIA is well funded going forward, with some focusing on its role over broadband. “BTOP is now BroadbandUSA,” Doyle said, stressing NTIA expertise should be tapped in any infrastructure proposal that includes broadband stimulus. Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., asked witnesses about $50 million in funding the agency generally receives. “In my experience, NTIA is a very resource-constrained agency” and its role “is only going to get bigger,” Gomez told Pallone, emphasizing the future spectrum needs in terms of staffing and research. Internet policy, cybersecurity and the multistakeholder processes also will be crucial places in which NTIA must continue to act, she said. “Funding is going to be absolutely necessary,” said Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa. The Electronic Privacy Information Center sent lawmakers a letter ahead of the hearing. "The NTIA should support a strong legal framework that protects American Internet users and promotes public safety," the group said. "The NTIA’s multi-stakeholder processes are simply not working -- they result in weak, voluntary self-regulatory regimes. Industry self-regulatory programs do not provide meaningful privacy protections."

Loebsack asked about lessons learned from the broadband stimulus program under the Obama administration. Baker urged lawmakers to be careful in how broadband is defined given the fast growth of markets. Kneuer pointed to the challenge of finding market failures. “There certainly is a will and desire to spend private money,” he said, urging “incentives for the private sector to counter those market failures.” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., wondered if the FCC and NTIA should come together for a National Spectrum Plan. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., who led efforts on reallocation incentives legislation before, said she wants to keep focusing on efforts to free up spectrum. Gomez told Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., spectrum can be important for unmanned aerial systems for command and control, with different needs for different aircraft. Baker told lawmakers the Spectrum Relocation Fund should fund spectrum planning and lauded the quality of NTIA analysis, also commending Congress for helping prompt some of that.

Kneuer told lawmakers he thought the U.S. could “take a more proactive role” on behalf of domestic companies in issues involving ICANN, after last year’s Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition. When the U.S. had a contractual relationship with ICANN, there was “some hesitancy” over the optics of “abusing that authority,” he said. Kneuer said there are instances where more intervention is now appropriate.