The rest of the world is watching to see whether the U.S. will regulate a portion of the Internet, and FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell finds the idea “a little unsettling,” he said at a Silicon Flatirons conference on spectrum policy Tuesday. The danger, he said, is that a bad idea adopted by U.S. policymakers could get “amplified abroad” as teams at the ITU read everything the FCC writes. The open Title II docket has sent a “confusing message,” McDowell said, with the topic coming up in every conversation he has when traveling abroad and discussing World Conference on International Telecommunications issues. Foreign officials ask him: If the U.S. is seriously considering classifying a portion of the Internet as a common carrier, what’s wrong with the rest of the world considering it as well? And why don’t we then regulate more of the Internet? “Whether that was the original animal, that’s how it’s being sold” overseas, McDowell said. McDowell has long been critical of reclassifying broadband as a Title II service, advocating a “light touch” that encourages business investment and innovation. Commissioner Ajit Pai railed last month against “anachronistic laws” in the Telecom Act that don’t make sense in an IP-based marketplace, and pushed for closure of the Title II docket. McDowell is “absolutely right,” said Phoenix Center President Lawrence Spiwak. The long-standing policy of the U.S. is to not impose onerous regulations on the Internet, he said. While the docket is open, it sends a message both domestically and internationally that the U.S. is “not fully committed” to that policy, he said. “What is the purpose of having this docket if not to use this docket?” Spiwak asked. It’s a “sword of Damocles hanging over the industry’s head.” “This notion about sending a message to the rest of the world is utter nonsense,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge. “To suggest that delegates to the ITU cannot tell the difference between what is suitable for domestic policy and what is suitable for ITU jurisdiction does not appear to be supported by the facts on the ground.” Even if this were the case, it’s unlikely anyone making that argument would be swayed by an FCC decision to close the Title II inquiry at this point, he said. “If the FCC announced tomorrow it was closing the Title II docket, wouldn’t these same supporters of ITU jurisdiction argue that this was the consequence of political interference solely designed to circumvent ITU jurisdiction?” Communications lawyer Andrew Schwartzman disputed McDowell’s premise that Title II regulation means regulation of the Internet. That premise “is wrong,” he said. “What would be truly unsettling is if the United States were to drop its commitment to an open Internet.” Asked for key takeaways from his experience as a commissioner, McDowell said the wireless sector’s success has shown him that “light touch” regulation works. The commission should also avoid enacting policies that may be obsolete by the time they get out into the marketplace, he said. The commission should avoid making it harder for secondary markets to work, and respect antitrust law and concentrations of power that result in user harm, while also allowing spectrum that’s already in the market “to flow to its highest and best use,” he said.
The rest of the world is watching to see whether the U.S. will regulate a portion of the Internet, and FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell finds the idea “a little unsettling,” he said at a Silicon Flatirons conference on spectrum policy Tuesday. The danger, he said, is that a bad idea adopted by U.S. policymakers could get “amplified abroad” as teams at the ITU read everything the FCC writes. McDowell also discussed ideas for getting more spectrum into the hands of consumers, and endorsed the idea of paying federal users to get off their spectrum.
Change is on the way at the FCC, with Chairman Julius Genachowski widely expected to step down some time next year after nearly four years in the job. Change won’t be nearly as sweeping as what would have followed a Mitt Romney victory and the likely reversal of several key Obama administration policy calls, starting with 2010 net neutrality rules, government and industry officials told us Wednesday.
Change is on the way at the FCC, with Chairman Julius Genachowski widely expected to step down some time next year after nearly four years in the job. Change won’t be nearly as sweeping as what would have followed a Mitt Romney victory and the likely reversal of several key Obama administration policy calls, starting with 2010 net neutrality rules, government and industry officials told us Wednesday.
Unlicensed spectrum provisions as proposed in the FCC’s Oct. 2 notice of proposed rulemaking on the incentive auction have sparked one of the biggest likely fights over auctions rules -- the 700 MHz guardbands and how much spectrum will likely be set aside for unlicensed use. Republican Commissioners Robert McDowell and Ajit Pai both are questioning whether the proposal allocates too much spectrum to unlicensed use at the expense of licenses carriers need to offer wireless broadband, industry and agency sources said. The future of the proposal likely will be determined by who wins Tuesday’s presidential election, sources agree.
Unlicensed spectrum provisions as proposed in the FCC’s Oct. 2 notice of proposed rulemaking on the incentive auction have sparked one of the biggest likely fights over auctions rules -- the 700 MHz guardbands and how much spectrum will likely be set aside for unlicensed use. Republican Commissioners Robert McDowell and Ajit Pai both are questioning whether the proposal allocates too much spectrum to unlicensed use at the expense of licenses carriers need to offer wireless broadband, industry and agency sources said. The future of the proposal likely will be determined by who wins Tuesday’s presidential election, sources agree.
An FCC order that would let Tribune emerge from bankruptcy is expected to circulate after the election, possibly as early as the end of the week and probably before Thanksgiving, industry officials said. Commission approval, as Tribune attorneys and executives have repeatedly reminded commission officials in ex parte discussions, is the remaining holdup to the company’s more than three-year bankruptcy proceeding. CEO Eddy Hartenstein spoke with aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Oct. 26 to press this point, a notice of the ex parte conversation said (http://xrl.us/bnxm4u).
A big question in the wake of the release of FCC data on the aftermath Hurricane Sandy is whether a public broadband safety network (PSBN) can largely ride on commercial networks, some said. The commission said 25 percent of cell sites in 158 counties across 10 states and Washington, D.C., were out of service following the storm (CD Oct 31 p1). The number was down slightly as of Wednesday. (See separate story). The new FirstNet board is starting its work developing an architecture for the national wireless public safety network. Officials noted that no network can survive every threat.
The presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney have begun efforts to select candidates for their administrations’ top communications positions, whichever candidate wins Nov. 6. Such efforts include preliminary plans for who might replace any outgoing administration officials, if Obama is reelected, and if Romney becomes president, determine who would be nominated for high-level telecom positions in the new administration. We recently interviewed former and current Democratic and Republican government officials to understand who will likely help each candidate make the necessary agency appointments if his campaign wins next Tuesday. The campaigns declined to comment, as did those said to be directly involved in the early-on planning efforts.
Spectrum policy historically has been viewed as essentially non-political, but that’s changing rapidly. The most recent example is last week’s FCC order that should mean greater use of the wireless communications service band for wireless broadband (CD Oct 17 p1). Industry observers told us that the politicization of spectrum has been all but inevitable, as the world goes wireless.