Public safety would get the 700 MHz D-block under major new bills unveiled separately Tuesday by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz. The latter bill is similar to a House one (HR-5081) introduced a few months ago by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. On a conference call with reporters, senior FCC officials welcomed the Rockefeller bill, even though it clashes with the National Broadband Plan’s recommendation that the band be sold at auction. An agency spokeswoman declined to comment on the McCain-Lieberman legislation.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
The FCC shouldn’t consider reclassification at its Sept. 16 open meeting, said House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. At a Commerce Committee markup Wednesday, he urged House Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to direct FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski not to take the issue up until at least October. “Given the behind-the-scenes that would have to take place at the commission, such a move would indicate that little or no analysis or consideration was given to the comment or reply comments that were filed on the issue during the comment period,” Stearns said. It would also be “disrespectful” to bicameral, bipartisan talks on the Hill, which seem to be leading to a “narrow, targeted bill.” With Congress recessing in August, legislators would only have “a few days to react upon our return in September.” Also at the hearing, Commerce Committee Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, slammed Tuesday’s FCC broadband deployment report (CD July 21 p1), which found that the U.S. isn’t deploying broadband in a “reasonable and timely” fashion. “The FCC seemed to ignore the developments that have actually happened in the marketplace,” Barton said.
Internet accessibility legislation cleared the House Commerce Committee by a unanimous voice vote Wednesday. The committee reported the bill (HR-3101) to the full House with amendments addressing industry concerns, expanding video description requirements, and establishing an annual $10 million fund to subsidize equipment for the deaf-blind. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., reaffirmed he wants to see the bills on the House and Senate floors next week in time for the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Senate Commerce Committee passed its own version of the bill (S-3304) last week (CD July 16 p5).
Republican senators seeking to limit FCC power over the Internet plan to introduce Wednesday legislation designed to stop the FCC from applying common carrier regulations to broadband, said telecom industry officials. Under the Freedom for Consumer Choice (FCC) Act, the commission couldn’t regulate unless it first showed harm to consumers from a lack of competition and it weighed the possible costs of action against the benefits. Passing the legislation is a long shot in the current political climate, telecom industry analysts said.
Senate spectrum legislation introduced Monday would authorize incentive auctions to pay federal and commercial users that voluntarily give up unused frequencies and would require a national spectrum plan. The Spectrum Measurement and Policy Reform Act, sponsored by Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., aims to update national spectrum planning, management and coordination activities. The legislation would give the the FCC and the NTIA $10 million over the next two fiscal years.
The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved amended Internet accessibility legislation by Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Kerry, D-Mass., in a voice vote Thursday morning. The bill (S-3304) aims to increase the number of hearing aid-compatible phones, improve access to 911 emergency services, and expand and update closed captioning and video description requirements. Democrats and Republicans supported the bill, despite lingering concerns by consumer electronics companies (CD July 15 p12) .
Friday’s closed-door Capitol Hill staff meeting with industry representatives on updating the Telecom Act will tackle a wide array of hot spectrum policy issues, based on preparatory questions e-mailed to invited participants by the House Commerce Committee. The meeting is to start at 11 a.m. in Room 2123, Rayburn House Office Building. Committees refused Thursday to disclose which groups were invited to join House and Senate Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee staffers at the meeting. But Hill and industry officials said to expect another crowded meeting of 30-odd participants, albeit composed of different groups from the first two meetings. In the e-mail to invitees, the committee asked if the FCC could fully act on National Broadband Plan spectrum recommendations under its existing authority, and the relevance of differences between wireless and wireline/cable networks, and between terrestrial and satellite broadband services. The committee asked if there is a “spectrum crisis,” and if so how much and which spectrum is needed to address it. It asked how to balance the spectrum need by commercial providers with that of public safety operatives and national security agencies, and whether to promote unlicensed spectrum use and spectrum sharing as alternatives to licensed use. The committee asked how best to provide incentives to commercial and federal spectrum users to give up extra spectrum for commercial use, and if participants believed the FCC would get enough broadcasters “in the right places” to participate in incentive auctions proposed by the agency. And the committee asked how much government should manage auctions, including whether the FCC should impose caps or conditions on companies vying for spectrum.
The House passed legislation to expand telework opportunities for federal workers after Republicans successfully tweaked it to their liking in a last-minute effort on the House floor Wednesday. The House voted 290-131 to approve an amended bill after voting 304-118 on a measure by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., that included changes to the bill that Issa said would ensure the legislation is “cost neutral,” as well as ensure federal employee integrity while telecommuting. The bill moves to the Senate.
CEA still has concerns about Internet accessibility legislation that Democrats are pushing to finish by July 26, the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it said. The Senate Commerce Committee plans Thursday to mark up a revised version of S-3304 by Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Kerry, D-Mass. An amendment by Pryor that circulated among lobbyists Wednesday didn’t relieve CEA’s concerns that the bill is too broad and imposes too many technical requirements, said Jason Oxman, a senior vice president of the association. CEA has similar concerns about the House version, by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. The association supports ensuring that its products are accessible but opposes mandates that dictate functionality, because it believes Congress should “leave innovation to the innovators,” Oxman said. CEA has been working with House and Senate members to improve the legislation and plans to continue “up to the point where it gets to the floor,” if necessary, he said. Other industry groups involved in the legislative discussions, including USTelecom, NCTA and CTIA, didn’t comment. USTelecom raised concerns about some technical aspects of the bill at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in May, but changes since seem to have resolved the association’s concerns, a telecom industry official said. The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, which has supported the legislation, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The White House may brief Hill staffers Friday on President Barack Obama’s recent spectrum announcement related to the National Broadband Plan, Hill and industry officials said. The same day, House and Senate Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee staffers are expected to meet with industry about spectrum issues in the third of a series of discussions about updating the Telecom Act. Massachusetts Democrats Rep. Ed Markey and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry are preparing major spectrum bills to complement the White House effort (CD June 29 p1). Their legislation may surface within the next two weeks, a wireless industry official said. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.