Senate Appropriations Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) told FCC...
Senate Appropriations Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) told FCC Chmn. Powell in informal discussion Mon. that market generally didn’t address communications needs of rural residents and emphasized challenges govt. faced in finding remedy to telecom services in remote areas, congressional…
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staffer said. Stevens believes that continued support of universal service program, for example, is critical to rural America’s future broadband service deployment as well as existing basic phone service, staffer said. “The market just doesn’t go where the roads don’t go or where there’s no government support,” she said. “Communications becomes a life-or-death issue” for Alaskans and other residents of remote areas, particularly when facing medical- or weather-related emergencies and phone service isn’t available, she said. Stevens and Powell also spoke about possible action to prevent exodus of “best and brightest” FCC engineers to higher paying positions in private sector, staffer said. They explored possible remedies such as including FCC budget assessment to accommodate competitive salaries and increase staff retention, solution Stevens said also was needed in retention of key Hill telecom staffers, aide said. Stevens asked what Powell needed to address engineering staff retention issue, but didn’t have immediate plan to introduce legislative remedy, she said.