The FCC voted 3-2 Thursday to explore the potential of Internet fast lanes, as expected (CD May 15 p1). But Chairman Tom Wheeler wanted to make one point clear: Fast lanes for some will not mean slow lanes for others. “I don’t like the idea that the Internet could become divided into haves and have nots,” he said. “I will work to see that does not happen.” Wheeler said he wants rules in which, if an ISP slows speeds below what the consumer bought, “it would be commercially unreasonable and therefore prohibited.” Republican commissioners said net neutrality rules are a government solution in search of a problem.
Some House Democrats want the FCC to reserve spectrum for some carriers as part of the broadcast-TV incentive auction it plans in mid-2015. “A proposal to reserve a portion of the available licenses for carriers with limited nationwide low-frequency holdings will stimulate auction competition and revenues, ensuring opportunity to bid and win spectrum to enhance and extend rural build out and improve coverage in all areas, while guarding against excessive concentration of spectrum resources,” they told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter dated Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1l43BWs). Signers included Rep. Doris Matsui, Calif., the lead signature, along with Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, Calif., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, Calif. Others are House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers, Mich.; Mike Doyle, Pa.; Zoe Lofgren, Calif.; Ben Ray Lujan, N.M.; Jared Polis, Colo.; Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith, Wash.; and Peter Welch, Vt. In other recent letters from Capitol Hill to the FCC, 78 House Democrats pressured the agency to hold “an equal and fair” auction open to all bidders “on equal terms,” and every Republican on the House Communications Subcommittee demanded the agency not place restrictions on any auction bidders. The Competitive Carriers Association hailed Matsui’s letter: “We completely agree that reserving a portion of the 600 MHz spectrum after revenue targets have been satisfied is good for the wireless industry and the economy as a whole,” CEO Steve Berry said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1omJ1Wq). “Allowing the largest two national carriers to buy up all the spectrum would have devastating consequences.” The FCC, at its Thursday meeting, is expected to vote on an incentive auction item (CD May 12 p2).
The public interest must factor into the FCC’s broadcast TV spectrum incentive auction, said Tom Power, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy deputy federal chief technology officer. The agency is putting together what seems to be a “good proposal” that “seems to balance all these interests” of competition and revenue, Power said Friday at a Capitol Hill spectrum policy event hosted by the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. The FCC will consider an item on the auction at its Thursday meeting.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., attacked in a blog post for The Hill Tuesday the notion of paid data prioritization deals. “Allowing deals for prioritization could easily be used to favor some content at the expense of others and be used as a barrier to entry for a small startup without the resources to buy access to an Internet fast lane,” Matsui said (http://bit.ly/1iYOQRY). “We need open Internet rules that encourage companies to compete for customers without striking special deals.” She encouraged people to weigh in on net neutrality with the FCC. Net neutrality means there shouldn’t be any “'gatekeepers,’ or toll roads,” she said. The FCC is expected to vote May 15 on a net neutrality NPRM (CD May 6 p1).
To realize the potential of telehealth services, Congress must help set a definition, solve restrictive licensing procedures, protect the privacy of data transfers and alter outdated payment and reimbursement language of Medicare, witnesses told the House Subcommittee on Health Thursday. Within the decade, “telehealth will simply become healthcare,” said Kofi Jones, vice president-public affairs of telehealth company American Well. Congress can aid the process through encouraging research and by crafting legislation to ensure the entire population -- urban dwellers, not just rural residents -- can receive telehealth treatment, said Ateev Mehrotra, a professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School.
Congress needs to provide “an on-going commitment to policies that ensure wireless providers have access to a significant and predictable supply of spectrum,” CTIA told House lawmakers in comments on the House Communications Subcommittee white paper issued as part of its Communications Act update process. Comments, which were due Friday, weren’t immediately released but a committee spokesman told us comments will likely be posted on the House Commerce Committee website in the same manner responses to its first white paper were earlier this year. CTIA and some others made their comments available to us.
Some members of Congress are cringing at the basic idea of the FCC reinstating net neutrality rules, as others balk at reports of what these new rules will look like. Three House lawmakers have an especially keen interest in any new FCC net neutrality rules, they all said during an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators set to be telecast Saturday. Two Republican members of Congress cautioned against any agency attempts at restoring net neutrality rules, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated in a January ruling, while a Democrat viewed the possibility of new rules more hopefully.
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."