Senate Has Hold on Martin Renomination

Martin has completed responses to dozens of questions submitted from committee members after his confirmation hearing (CD Sept 13 p2). He told Sen. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) that if Congress doesn’t pass telecom legislation, the FCC would issue an order by the end of the year saying that local franchise authorities (LFAs) may not discriminate against new entrants. The order would implement findings from a notice of proposed rulemaking opened in Nov., Martin said.

Several senators questioned Martin about his views on media ownership rules. Sen. Cantwell (D-Wash.) said she had “serious concerns” about lifting the ban on cross-ownership, which Martin supported in 2003. She questioned whether Martin still held the same view as he did when he was a commissioner. “We intend to consider all the [media ownership] rules in concert as we conduct hearings and independent studies,” Martin responded: “It is too early to determine whether the record will support one order or separate orders. It is also too soon to determine what actions -- if any -- we will take with respect to any particular rule.”

Sen. Nelson (D-Fla.) asked Martin how the FCC plans to address minority-owned media when crafting new rules, which FCC data show account for only 3.41% of broadcast entities. Martin cited a 2004 public notice seeking comment on ways to eliminate market entry barriers for small telecom businesses. He said he plans to incorporate the comments in his review of media ownership rules. Martin also said the FCC is commissioning independent studies, “some of which will focus expressly on minority ownership.” He also said the Commission plans to circulate a further notice of proposed rulemaking (FNPRM) on the matter.

“I cannot say right now how substantively we plan to address the issue, as we have not yet received public comment on the FNPRM or the results of our independent studies, and have not yet had any of our public hearings,” Martin said. Minority and female ownership is low because most broadcast licenses were given away decades ago, when those groups had even less access to capital and opportunities than they do today, Martin told Nelson. The Commission has taken steps to further minority and female ownership of broadcast licensees with the creation of a new entrant bidding credit, he said. The Commission also could provide designated entities (DEs) more time for construction of broadcast facilities, Martin said.

Questioned about what constitutes competition in the broadband market, Martin said that there’s no “simple answer.” Nelson asked him to specify how many firms would be necessary to deem a market competition, but Martin said economists consider many factors other than the number of companies, such as demand, differentiation of products, cost of entry for new firms and consumer costs for switching from one provider to another. “Depending on the circumstances, even in markets with only 2 competitors, those competitors may compete aggressively against each other.”

Rockefeller asked Martin his views on preemption of state laws for the wireless industry, a provision now pending in the Senate telecom bill (HR-5252). States are “well- equipped” to handle consumer complaints because they are on the front lines dealing with consumers, Martin told Rockefeller. But it’s critical that there’s a “uniform national communications policy that fosters the development of new technologies,” he said. He cited instances in which the FCC has worked in tandem with states on behalf of consumers.

The FCC delegated “significant” authority to states to administer phone numbers, Martin said. And the FCC also has concluded that states have the primary responsibility for administering rules on slamming complaints. Nelson also asked Martin his views on states’ role in protecting consumers, and pressed him to provide details on the percentage of complaints that resulted in enforcement actions. Martin said the FCC receives about 120,000 informal complaints per year, and last year about $4.1 million was returned to consumers through resolution of the complaints.

The FCC usually sends the complaint to the carrier with instructions to respond within 30 days, unless there’s a public safety or health issue, Martin said. Some complaints are sent to other federal or state agencies. Last year, the Enforcement Bureau initiated an investigation based on 200 consumer complaints from Sprint, he said. The FCC issued 95 citations based on 6,336 complaints on junk faxes and it negotiated a consent decree with T-Mobile over do-not-call complaints.

Nelson questioned Martin about “recently published articles” (CD Sept 6 p1) citing sources saying that the agency’s performance has “suffered under your leadership.” Martin largely dodged Nelson’s pointed questions about “large-scale senior staff turnover,” his failure to fill several permanent positions and poor staff morale. Martin cited pride in his ability to “achieve a balanced approach to policy” on a bipartisan basis.

Martin pointed to the agency’s dedication to duty during Hurricane Katrina and said the FCC’s first auction of advanced wireless services was expected to raise nearly $14 billion for the federal govt. As for staff vacancies, Martin said that many existed when he took over and said the “shift in agency leadership is not uncommon when there is a change in administration.”