The Democratic party’s platform should include language supporting an open Internet, four Democratic lawmakers said in a letter to the Democratic National Committee Wednesday. “We strongly urge you to ensure Internet freedom is a plank in the platform,” wrote Jared Polis of Colorado and California Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Anna Eshoo, and Doris Matsui. “Specifically, Democrats should explicitly reaffirm our staunch commitment to online free expression, to protect privacy from overbroad surveillance, to a free and open Internet, and to innovation in digital services.” The four asked that the platform include the language: “The Democratic Party stands for global Internet freedom, the free flow of information online, a free and open Internet, and protection from online censorship and privacy violations.” Earlier this month, political action committee Demand Progress began an online campaign to encourage Democrats and Republicans to adopt pro-open Internet language in their platforms. The petition asked the parties’ leaders to include in the platform the phrase: “The Democratic/Republican Party stands for a free and open Internet, unfettered by censorship and undue violations of privacy."
The primary defeat of Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., surprised many and left others wondering how his departure would affect the composition of the House Commerce Committee. The twelve-term congressman and chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee conceded to Ted Yoho Wednesday after a tightly fought primary race. Industry officials said Stearns’ defeat opens up some key spots on both the Oversight and Communications subcommittees.
The President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) Friday released its report that asks the Obama administration to move to spectrum sharing and away from attempting to clear federal users off the radio band offering carriers “exclusive-use” licenses. Most of the components were unveiled in May when the report was approved by PCAST (CD May 29 p1). In a key conclusion, PCAST recommended that the administration direct agencies to identify 1,000 MHz of spectrum that could be shared with the private sector.
The Federal Spectrum Working Group urged NTIA to provide more information about the government’s use of spectrum in a letter released Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bngeq3). The group asked NTIA to specify the number of spectrum authorizations each federal user held in 2011 and the amount of spectrum assigned to each federal user. The group is co-chaired by Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and includes Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill.; Mike Rogers, R-Mich.; Steve Scalise, R-La.; Diana DeGette, D-Colo.; John Barrow, D-Ga.; and Del. Donna Christensen, D-Virgin Islands. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., are ex-officio members.
The FCC’s plans for special access reform became a prominent issue during a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday where members queried the commissioners on a broad spectrum of regulatory issues. Chairman Julius Genachowski conceded that the current framework for special access is “not working” but said the commission lacks the necessary data to determine how exactly it should be reformed.
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., said spectrum is the “big issue” facing the House Communications Subcommittee. “We know there is not enough spectrum,” the vice chairman said Wednesday night at a Phoenix Center event. Consumer preferences toward streaming video and audio are changing rapidly and “none of that happens without spectrum,” he said.
The House passed the Federal Communications Consolidated Reporting Act (HR-3310) by a voice vote on Wednesday evening. The bill (CD May 30 p8) would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate eight reports on the state of the communications marketplace into one biennial report. The bill would repeal 12 different reports that are “no longer used,” said sponsor Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. The bill also contains an amendment proposed by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., which would require the FCC to consider “all forms of competition” in its reporting. The bill is a “common sense approach” that won’t require companies to have “massive compliance departments to comply with things that nobody reads,” Scalise said. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., called the bill “a step forward to further ensuring transparency.” Commissioner Ajit Pai commended the passage of the bill and said the legislation would assist the FCC in producing reports to Congress in a timely manner. NCTA hailed Scalise’s effort to reduce the reporting burden on telecom providers, while CTIA urged the agency to further streamline its reporting processes.
House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., asked FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Wednesday to act “expeditiously” and “decisively” on special access reform. The commission is expected to initiate another round of data requests in an upcoming special access rulemaking. “More than fifteen years after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 tasked the FCC with ensuring that special access rates and contracts are just and reasonable, the special access market continues to be dominated by just three incumbent telephone companies,” she said in a letter. “The FCC’s history of deregulating the special access market … has preserved this market concentration, contributing to a history of rate increases and little competition.” The letter was also signed by House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif. Last December the FCC completed its second round of data collection in the special access proceeding, docket 05-25 (CD Dec 8 p1).
NAB CEO Gordon Smith on Wednesday urged leaders of the federal spectrum working group to require a “comprehensive” spectrum inventory that looks at both the private and public sector use of spectrum. “Neither Congress nor the American people have a clear understanding of what spectrum is being used, by whom and for what purpose,” Smith wrote working group co-chairs Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif. (http://xrl.us/bm6t7j). “Reasoned policy decisions and thoughtful consideration of these matters simply cannot be honestly and earnestly debated without the facts.” Smith chided the “striking lack of objective information” about U.S. spectrum policy and said that prior congressional requests for a comprehensive spectrum inventory “have gone unanswered.” CTIA Vice President-Government Affairs Jot Carpenter shot back at the NAB letter for “denying the existence of a spectrum crunch,” in a statement Wednesday. “While the NAB is committed to its ‘deny and delay’ strategy, the mobile industry is working to deploy the most efficient technologies available, building new infrastructure at a record pace, and engage with policymakers -- including the members of the spectrum working group -- to identify and move to market spectrum."
It’s time for industry and government stakeholders to “roll up our sleeves, lock the engineers from both sides in a room and figure out a path forward” on spectrum reallocation, said T-Mobile Vice President-Federal Legislative Affairs Tony Russo in a blog post Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bm544v). Additional bandwidth is “essential to continue offering cutting edge mobile broadband services to consumers and regaining the competitiveness of the wireless industry,” he said. Russo endorsed the Efficient Use of Government Spectrum Act (HR-4817), which he said can accommodate the needs of “current government users while carving a path forward to reallocate the spectrum for commercial wireless services.” Reps. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., introduced HR-4817 last week to require the FCC to pair for commercial auction the 1755-1780 MHz band with the 2155-2180 MHz band (CD April 27 p3). Stearns said the legislation would bring more spectrum to the commercial market and raise $12 billion for the U.S. Treasury while offering the Defense Department protections for reallocation. Russo acknowledged that the full clearing of the 1755-1780 MHz band may not be possible in a short timeframe and said the legislation offers a transition plan whereby all users can share the spectrum. “Only through cooperative engagement will we get to a solution that works for both current and future licensees within the three-year period remaining under separate legislation that authorized the auction of the 2155-2180 MHz band,” he said. Both the 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz band should “obviously” be sold together to provide “certainty to auction participants about what they are buying,” Russo said.