The FCC should adopt final rules on 2.3 GHz wireless communications service (WCS) spectrum “in conjunction with, or soon after,” the release of the National Broadband Plan, said Democratic Reps. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Doris Matsui of California. In a letter sent Monday to Chairman Julius Genachowski, they said the spectrum has been “mostly fallow for over a decade in large part because final technical rules have not yet been adopted.” The commission has drafted technical rules, but the effort has been on hold while the agency developed its broadband plan, the legislators said. Until it acts, “equipment manufacturers and wireless network operators cannot offer consumers cost- effective wireless mobile broadband services,” they said.
Three House Democrats praised the Obama administration for making anchor institutions a priority in the second round of broadband stimulus funding. Reps. Doris Matsui and Anna Eshoo of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts said the tough economy means increasing numbers of Americans are turning to schools, libraries and other institutions for Internet access. “Bringing high-capacity broadband to a school or library in an underserved area benefits the entire community and also makes it far easier to expand broadband capability into businesses and residences in the community,” they said.
FCC staffers will meet this week to discuss a proposed policy framework for the National Broadband Plan that will take up universal service and spectrum, said Bruce Gottlieb, Chairman Julius Genachowski’s chief counsel. “Currently the staff is in the process of talking with a lot of folks on the eighth floor on these issues,” he said on a Practising Law Institute panel. The meeting will explore USF and spectrum “in more detail than people have seen so far,” Gottlieb said.
A draft Universal Service Fund reform bill won general praise from both sides of the aisle at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday. Nearly all applauded its plan to expand the fund to cover broadband, but there were differing opinions on how to pay for it. Rural lawmakers raised concerns about the proposal’s impact on support in hard-to-reach areas that could benefit from increased broadband deployment. Key Democrats support a separate bill that would create a “universal broadband fund.”
The FCC and the Transportation Department plan to jointly study solutions to distracted driving, they said at a House subcommittee hearing Wednesday. Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said he has no position on bills that have been introduced to encourage states to adopt laws outlawing texting while driving. The FCC plans to study technological solutions, he said. The commission and DOT plan a workshop in the next few weeks bringing in industry, safety and technology experts to examine technology approaches, he said. The FCC is “not asking for more authority and is not proposing new rules,” Genachowski told Rep. John Dingell, D- Mich., who expressed skepticism about passing legislation.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., announced support for her broadband bill (HR-3646) from the Communications Workers of America and United Auto Workers. The bill would allow universal service funds to be used to pay for broadband for low-income groups.
Work on comprehensive emergency communications legislation will come next year when the FCC finishes its broadband plan and perhaps takes up revamping the Universal Service Fund, House aides said at an E-911 Institute meeting Thursday. The need for a nationwide strategy and funding for next-generation E-911 services could be taken up in a USF bill or some other broadband-related vehicle, aides said. Some of this year’s broadband stimulus awards could go to public-safety projects, as called for in the Recovery Act, but much more money will be needed to fulfill longstanding plans for a nationwide interoperable network, people at the conference said.
The Universal Service Fund’s Lifeline Assistance program would be expanded to cover broadband, under a bill introduced Thursday by Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif. The bill would direct the FCC to establish a broadband program that provides low-income Americans in rural and urban areas with help in subscribing to broadband service. “Although these households may have some options for broadband access, they are underserved if none of these options are affordable,” Matsui said. The bill would also require the FCC to study the prevailing market price for service and available speeds in calculating the amount of support the program would get.
Many anchor institutions like libraries don’t fit within the categories established by broadband grant rules, said a letter sent Thursday to NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling from House Democrats Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Doris Matsui and Anna Eshoo of California. The rules adopt a definition of broadband that “Falls far short of the kind of high-capacity broadband needed by these institutions,” the letter said, so many did not apply. Because the agency is considering making changes in its next round of funding rules, the lawmakers asked that NTIA “consider giving greater priority to funding these high-capacity connections in future funding rounds.” The standard of 768 kbps download ought to be reconsidered, the letter said.
Broadcasters in the markets that the FCC has identified as “hot spots” for DTV preparedness expressed confidence about Friday’s analog cutoff. Low call volume to stations that turned off analog service Feb. 17 and in April bolstered confidence, as did the small number of calls yielded by a May 21 FCC-coordinated analog cutoff simulation, they said Wednesday. Representatives of the 14 hot-spot markets we surveyed reported no cases of digital converter box or antenna shortages. No instances of shortages have been relayed to the FCC, commission officials said.