Commissioner Robert McDowell cast a dissenting vote on the FCC’s...

negative conclusion was unsettling considering that America had made impressive improvements in developing and deploying broadband infrastructure and services,” McDowell said. This year’s report contains the “same flawed analyses and conclusions” but with a “novel rationale” for its conclusions, he said. “This year’s report makes a surprising leap by arguing that Congress did not mean ‘physical’ deployment when referring to ‘deployment’ and ‘availability,'” he said. “Instead of looking to the plain statutory language to determine Congress’ intent, however, the Commission relies on legislative report language to argue that even if broadband is physically deployed to a particular area but is not affordable, it is not considered available under Section 706.” Through an “attempted re-interpretation” of Section 706(b) of the Communications Act, “the Commission appears to continue a trend towards more regulation and ever increasing authority over broadband and the Internet,” the Republican commissioner said. Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, indicated in a statement Monday he agrees with McDowell’s concerns. “It’s difficult to understand how an objective look at the facts can lead the FCC to conclude that our progress on broadband is lacking,” Walden said. “It is one thing to recognize that some areas of the country -- typically rural -- are difficult to serve; it is quite another to say that broadband is not being reasonably and timely deployed to all Americans. The former only requires the FCC to consider reform of the Universal Service Fund; the latter is a claimed excuse to impose network neutrality and to further regulate the Internet."