Eshoo Prepping Reintroduction of 4G Disclosure Bill
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., will soon reintroduce a bill to require wireless service providers to accurately disclose the terms of their services to consumers, she said Tuesday at an event hosted by the Broadband Breakfast Club. She said the bill will “ensure that consumers will know what they are getting before committing to a two-year contract.” Eshoo’s senior technology policy adviser, David Grossman, said during a panel at the event the bill will likely drop “in the coming weeks.” Separately, House Commerce Committee Democrats re-elected Eshoo as ranking member of the Communications Subcommittee (see separate report). Ranking members are still subject to approval by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and the Democratic Caucus.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Last session, Eshoo authored the Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act (HR-2281), which failed to advance. That legislation sought to require wireless carriers to disclose to consumers their data rates, service reliability, throttling mechanisms, coverage area and price of wireless services, among other information. Grossman added: “Wireless has become an expensive monthly service and there should be some clear disclosures out there at the point of sale for what consumers are signing up for.”
Generally the focus on wireless and freeing up more spectrum “has to be a top priority for the [Communications] Subcommittee and Congress,” Eshoo told attendees. Eshoo said she plans to ensure that spectrum is used efficiently and will “consider all options in promoting a competitive marketplace.”
Eshoo stumped for more interoperability in the lower 700 MHz band, which she said would “enhance wireless competition and consumer choice [and] lower device costs and increase access to wireless broadband services for public safety.” Eshoo previously wrote a joint letter to the FCC with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. (http://xrl.us/bn5wdz), that urged commissioners to preserve public access to unlicensed spectrum (CD Dec 12 p3). Grossman commended a recent announcement by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that the FCC will move to free up more spectrum in the 5 GHz band for Wi-Fi, but said the FCC should also seek to preserve spectrum in the TV white spaces: “We need both.”
Eshoo would “strongly consider” introducing legislation if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturns the FCC’s open Internet order, Grossman said. Verizon’s challenge argues, in part, that the company has a First Amendment right to decide what it transmits online, and that right trumps the commission’s December 2010 net neutrality order. Eshoo co-authored a “Dear Colleague” letter last year that called Verizon’s argument “troubling” and said it could have “sweeping implications on Congress’s ability to govern telecom policy."
Congress’s failure to pass comprehensive cybersecurity legislation last year was “unacceptable and will need to be addressed as soon as possible,” said Eshoo. Grossman said there’s “strong momentum” for cybersecurity legislation in this session of Congress. The congresswoman is awaiting the rumored cybersecurity executive order and the release of a forthcoming GAO report on supply chain security, he said. But legislation is still necessary because “there are things that an executive order can’t do, like funding and liability protections,” he said.
Joseph Wender, aide to Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said the congressman is also waiting to see what the White House does on cybersecurity. Markey had concerns with HR-3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), Wender said. Specifically, Markey didn’t think it should “simply be an information sharing bill,” Wender said. Furthermore, Markey was concerned about the effect that CISPA would have on consumer privacy protections, said Wender.
Graham Dufault, aide to Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., agreed that privacy protections are important but said an executive order is not the solution. “If you have a list of government mandates, those can be outdated extremely quickly, especially in the cybersecurity space. We're looking for something that allows government involvement on an industry level rather than having top-down requirements.” Dufault said generally Republicans on the Commerce Committee will be focused on “oversight of the spectrum law ... having a conversation about government spectrum being re-purposed and shared, and we will see what happens with the net neutrality decision.”