Still at FCC, Clyburn 'Closing Statement' Sums Up Tenure as She Seeks ISP Data
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn's “closing statement” Wednesday summed up her accomplishments at the FCC and her regrets. Though Clyburn announced she was leaving, sat out the May meeting and held a farewell ceremony last month, she has continued to vote on some things, attend events as a commissioner (see 1805180042) and issued a call for ISP data for low-income broadband package subscriber information earlier in the day. Though the statement is labeled a closing one, and reads like a farewell, it doesn’t expressly say Clyburn is now officially stepping down. Her office didn’t comment.
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“Serving on the FCC was the most incredible job I have ever had, and the agency is one of the most consequential in the world,” Clyburn said. “There is hardly anything that happens in this country without the presence of a copper wire, fiber-optic cable, or radio waves transmission.” Clyburn was honored to be involved in many FCC matters such as classifying the internet under Communications Act Title II, reforms to inmate calling rules, and pushing for the collection of data to support media ownership diversity. “As Acting Chairwoman, I released a groundbreaking research proposal for public comment and was subsequently misrepresented and demonized,” Clyburn said. As a commissioner, Chairman Ajit Pai repeatedly characterized Clyburn’s proposed Critical Information Needs studies as an FCC overreach into newsrooms (see 1411190060). “I continue to believe that studies and reports that would enable this agency to fulfill its fundamental obligation," Clyburn said. The studies would allow the agency "to promote a diversity of voices and localism in broadcasting.”
Clyburn was critical of FCC Republicans, listing agency decisions she wishes had come out differently. “The current majority ignored the D.C. Circuit’s analysis and used a flawed statutory interpretation to give broadband internet service providers (ISPs) the power to block, throttle, and degrade content,” Clyburn said of the repeal of the 2015 order. She took aim at the current FCC’s actions on media ownership, deregulation of business data services, and limits on Lifeline subsidies, which Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also slammed the same day (see 1806060031). Clyburn panned the agency for additional “actions that do not put consumers first,” such as “refusing to review” AT&T buying Time Warner and eliminating rules requiring transparency around data caps.
In a section titled “My Hope Going Forward,” Clyburn said the FCC should return to putting the public interest first. “This agency can either be an enabler of opportunities or it can stifle opportunities,” Clyburn said. “I have seen firsthand where our policies have done much good, but I have also witnessed where inaction or bad decisions have created undue hardship.” The agency needs to strike a balance between “making sure that consumers are protected” and “trying not to get in the way of market-driven innovation,” said Clyburn. The public interest is “non-negotiable,” Clyburn said, before ending the closing statement with an apparent goodbye: “Godspeed.”
Meanwhile, ISPs should disclose more data and improve outreach for their programs for providing broadband to low-income households, Clyburn also said. “Unfortunately, it is difficult for us to measure the success of those programs due to a lack of publicly available data,” she said. “We are confident that these programs have the potential to help, but we don’t know what kind of impact they have actually had.” The sharing of ISP “insight and data” would be “beneficial,” Clyburn said. “Digital literacy training is also an important component to close the opportunities divide, and public disclosure of any data detailing outreach and digital literacy initiatives also would be very helpful.”
Comcast issued “detailed reports on our Internet Essentials program since it started, including statistics every year on outreach and how many families are being reached and multiple surveys,” a spokeswoman emailed. IE statistics are available on the company’s website. Other ISPs and trade groups didn’t comment.