The Senate reconfirmation fight over FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel may bleed over into stalling some big-ticket telecom legislation on the Senate floor, said officials from industry and on Capitol Hill. Some have heard that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., signaled an interest in obstructing telecom legislation until Rosenworcel gets a confirmation vote, which could have major implications for measures recently cleared from the Commerce Committee. That potential scenario was viewed as an unsurprising extension of Reid’s recent outrage.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently grilled all five FCC commissioners about net neutrality, the Commerce Committee on which he sits disclosed last week. Cruz, an ardent net neutrality critic who at times incorporated that criticism into his campaign for president, submitted questions for the record to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the other four commissioners about the topic following the committee's March 2 FCC oversight hearing (see 1603020051).
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently grilled all five FCC commissioners about net neutrality, the Commerce Committee on which he sits disclosed last week. Cruz, an ardent net neutrality critic who at times incorporated that criticism into his campaign for president, submitted questions for the record to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the other four commissioners about the topic following the committee's March 2 FCC oversight hearing (see 1603020051).
Whether wireless can be an effective substitute for fiber was a key question industry representatives struggled with Monday at the inaugural meeting of the Technology Transitions Policy Task Force. The main objective of Monday’s workshop was to establish a “factual baseline” for understanding three main transitions, said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski: the evolution of network protocols from TDM to IP, replacement of copper networks with fiber, and the shift from wireline to wireless service. More than a third of households have already cut the voice cord and gone totally wireless, several panelists said. But some said that, as a replacement for wired broadband, wireless leaves much to be desired.