Six House Democrats sent FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler a letter supporting an FCC proposal to use a new license size, partial economic area (PEA), during the incentive TV auction. “The ability of small and rural carriers to provide spectrum-based services hastens the buildout of wireless services to consumers in rural America,” they said. Robust wireless service is often not available in rural areas, the letter said. “The Commission has an opportunity to take an important step forward to fill this detrimental geographical gap by adopting the PEA or similar license map.” The letter was signed by Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont, co-chairman of the Rural Telecom Working Group, plus Reps. Anna Eshoo, Doris Matsui and Jerry McNerney, all of California, Bobby Rush of Illinois and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico. PEAs are a good alternative to smaller cellular market area (CMA) licenses, said Steve Berry, president of the Competitive Carriers Association. “To promote competition and benefit consumers, especially in regional and rural areas, competitive carriers must have the opportunity to bid at auction,” he said. “If the FCC does not use CMAs, adopting CCA’s proposal for Partial Economic Areas would help ensure a compromise between the larger Economic Areas (EAs) and the smaller CMAs and would afford all carriers a meaningful chance to bid on much needed spectrum."
The Federal Spectrum Incentive Act, (HR-3674), “would reduce discretionary costs by $8 million over the 2015-2019 period” and “increase net direct spending by $30 million over the 2015-2024 period,” said a Congressional Budget Office analysis (http://1.usa.gov/1mUDdT9). Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., introduced the bill last year, which cleared the House Commerce Committee in December. The legislation proposes allowing federal agencies to receive a portion of money back from the sale of spectrum they relinquish. “Because the money in the SRF [Spectrum Relocation Fund] generally remains available for a period of eight years, CBO anticipates each affected agency would receive a total of about $8 million from the SRF and that the Office of Management and Budget would record the use of budget authority in the budget when [spectrum] auction receipts are deposited,” CBO said. “Outlays would be recorded in the budget as expenses are incurred.” Pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, CBO added.
The FCC should ensure strong incentives for carriers to participate in the AWS-3 auction, the heads of the House Spectrum Working Group told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter Tuesday. “We urge the Commission to put forth a band plan that allows for robust competition, maximizing revenue through vigorous auction participation,” said Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif. (http://1.usa.gov/NUeTBD). “We recognize the FCC must balance many competing public interest goals in designing spectrum band plans, geographic license areas, and block sizes. We understand that is not an easy task."
Amendment attempts abounded Tuesday on the draft legislation of the House Communications Subcommittee’s Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (http://1.usa.gov/1rrPHlS), though most amendments failed to make it into the draft bill that cleared the panel on a voice vote. Democrats succeeded at modifying provisions of the controversial set-top box integration ban, which demands cable operators use CableCARDs instead of built-in security in set-top boxes, in the one bipartisan amendment put to a vote and attached to the draft.
House Communications Subcommittee Democrats refrained from backing draft legislation of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, reacting to a draft STELA updated text that subcommittee Republicans released last week and that earned support from both U.S. DBS companies, NAB and NCTA. Two major provisions have proven thorny, however, as witnesses and members stressed at a subcommittee STELA hearing Wednesday: The draft bill’s integration ban provision and language that would limit FCC actions on broadcaster sharing agreements until the agency completes its quadrennial review.
The FCC’s E-rate NPRM netted more than 1,500 comments and ex parte filings offering suggestions; now the Wireline Bureau wants more “focused comment,” it said in a public notice Thursday (http://fcc.us/1mZPkiX). Comments are due April 7 in docket 13-184 on how best to meet the agency’s proposed goals for the E-rate program. “Based on the extensive input the Commission has received, it appears that meeting the Commission’s proposed goals for the E-rate program will require that, in the near term, the program focus on providing the support necessary to ensure schools and libraries can afford high-speed connectivity to and within schools and libraries, even as the Commission develops a long-term approach that allows applicants to scale up capacity while driving down costs,” the bureau said. The bureau is seeking comments on three specific areas: (1) How best to focus E-rate funds on high-capacity broadband, especially high-speed Wi-Fi and internal connections; (2) how the agency might phase out support for traditional voice services in order to focus more funding on broadband; and (3) whether the commission should authorize “demonstration projects or experiments” to help the agency “test new, innovative ways to maximize cost-effective purchasing in the E-rate program.” The bureau asked for comments on a pilot program proposed by the American Library Association “aimed at temporarily increasing the discount level for targeted libraries, prioritizing based on public-private partnerships, and providing technical assistance in order to ‘catalyze innovation’ in advancing library services.” Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, who now represents the Urban Libraries Council, thinks the bureau is taking a “very innovative” approach to funding. Hundt suggests libraries measure the bandwidth per user at peak hours and “specifically suggest very efficient mechanisms to raise the bandwidth per user at peak hours.” It’s important to test Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the building, and determining whether slow bandwidth is due to a wall, a bad router or the need for more fiber, he said. “You don’t have to do it for all 9,000 systems or all 100,000 buildings; you do it for a statistically significant sample,” he said. Libraries should also “suggest model administrative practices” such as model contracts, model bidding and model applications, he said. “Ensuring that our nation’s schools and libraries have access to high-speed, high-capacity broadband connections is a national priority,” said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., in a statement. “I am pleased that the FCC has released a Public Notice today charting the next course on the path to modernize the E-Rate program."
Two House members announced the creation of a spectrum caucus Thursday. Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., will be co-chairs. They have headed the House Communications Subcommittee’s spectrum working group and introduced spectrum legislation together before. Matsui said it will be an “important mechanism for our colleagues and congressional staff to engage on the spectrum policies, both licensed and unlicensed, facing our economy.” CTIA Vice President-Government Affairs Jot Carpenter lauded the move in a statement. Matsui and Guthrie “know that spectrum isn’t just what drives the wireless industry, it’s increasingly what drives the economy,” he said.
The “inconsistent patchwork” of state telehealth laws “hinders the natural deployment of telehealth,” said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., at an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event Wednesday. Matsui and Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, introduced the Telehealth Modernization Act in December (http://1.usa.gov/1mCyJy4) in the hopes of bringing clarity by creating a federal definition of telehealth. “By establishing a workable federal definition of federal health, I'm hopeful states will look to this legislation for guidance in developing clear and consistent telehealth principles that benefit the nation as a whole,” Johnson said. Telehealth has received increased attention, with consumer advocates expressing concern about the practice’s privacy protections and about what they call a lack of government oversight. Matsui and Johnson’s bill would not address either issue, but Johnson stressed “privacy needs to be central” to any telehealth policy that states develop. “We've got hackers who hack into our databases; what’s to keep intruders from hacking into a telehealth session?” he said. But the first step is laying out a telehealth definition and principles “using a highest common denominator approach,” Matsui said. In the last year, more than 40 states have considered varying types of telehealth legislation, she said, creating market confusion that hinders telehealth for minorities, seniors and the disabled, which telehealth benefits. “Telehealth is, and will continue to be, invaluable in helping to resolve some of our nation’s most pressing health disparities,” she said.
Chairman Tom Wheeler made clear Wednesday the FCC would take what is essentially a middle ground following the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s Jan. 14 decision (CD Jan 15 p1) largely rejecting the agency’s 2010 net neutrality rules. The FCC won’t appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Instead, Wheeler said he would propose net neutrality rules aimed at enforcing and enhancing the order’s transparency rule, upheld by the court, and also preventing blocking and assuring nondiscrimination. Wheeler indicated if all else fails, the FCC could still reclassify broadband as a Title II common carrier service as a last resort. Wheeler’s approach accomplishes some key objectives of net neutrality while giving him wiggle room on how to proceed, former FCC officials said in interviews Wednesday.
The White House wants comments on a House spectrum bill that proposes to incent federal spectrum holders to give up their spectrum. The administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a request for information about the legislation and other spectrum matters, said a Friday filing in the Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1c6ZbfJ). HR-3674 “would expand the allowable usage of auction proceeds shared with agencies who voluntarily relinquish spectrum to include appropriations accounts reduced by sequestration, up to the level of reduction induced by sequestration,” the administration said. “OSTP welcomes comments on the approach proposed in this legislation and any modifications that could improve its efficacy.” Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., one of the bill’s authors, said she was pleased that the administration is seeking additional public comments on incentives for federal spectrum holders. The bipartisan legislation was announced in December and easily cleared the House Commerce Committee in a voice vote. Responses to OSTP are due within 30 days of the notice’s publication. The administration asked several questions that it says are to inform the development of spectrum policy. “With respect to a spectrum fund, what are alternative means to fund agency planning, research, and development?” it asked. “If the funding is to come from subsequent auctions of the spectrum band in question, how would agencies assess the potential risk of not being reimbursed for planning costs given that the plans may not be approved or implemented as expected?” It also seeks information about spectrum property rights and coordination among agencies.